Dubai, Abu Dhabi fast becoming world's top cities for global business

Two emirates climb in Global Cities' Outlook, while Dubai retains spot in Global Cities Index

Dubai and Abu Dhabi are fast catching up to major cities in the race for the world’s top destinations for global business despite the challenges they have faced during coronavirus pandemic, a new report suggests.

The report, published annually by management consulting firm Kearney, ranked Dubai as the 27th most competitive city in the world in the Global Cities Index (GCI) and 18th top city in the Global Cities Outlook (GCO), while Abu Dhabi emerged in the top ten in the GCO list.

Kearney’s global cities report features two rankings, the GCI, which looks at the city’s current performance, and the GCO, which gauges the city’s future prospects.

The GCI analyses how globally engaged cities are in terms of business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement, while in the GCO rankings, cities are rated across four dimensions: personal well-being, economics, innovation and governance.

GCI, GCO rankings
Overall, New York held on to its crown as the best city in terms of its current competitiveness, ranking first for the fourth year in a row in the GCI list, followed by London, Paris, Tokyo and Beijing in the top five.

In terms of their ability to create the right conditions for achieving a global status in the future, London emerged as the winner, taking the first spot in the GCO list, followed by Toronto, Singapore, Tokyo and Paris in the top five.

Economics metric
However, according to Kearney, cities in the Middle East are catching up to their peers in North America and Europe, thanks to their long-term investment in governance and economic well-being.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai were credited for their openness to the private sector and robust engagement in public-private partnerships.

“Abu Dhabi and Dubai topped the economics metric in infrastructure… Combined with increases in GDP per capita, FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows, and foreign investments, this took Abu Dhabi to seventh overall [in the GCO rankings], and Dubai from 32 to 18,” Kearney said in the report.

The top cities, according to Kearney:

Global Cities Index, 2020

1. New York
2. London
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. Beijing
6. Hong Kong
7. Los Angeles
8. Chicago
9. Singapore
10. Washington DC
11. Sydney
12. Shanghai
13. San Francisco
14. Brussels
15. Berlin
16. Madrid
17. Seoul
18. Melbourne
19. Toronto
20. Moscow
21. Boston
22. Vienna
23. Amsterdam
24. Munich
25. Buenos Aires
26. Barcelona
27. Dubai
28. Frankfurt
29. Montreal
30. Miami

Global Cities Outlook, 2020

1. London
2. Toronto
3. Singapore
4. Tokyo
5. Paris
6. Munich
7. Abu Dhabi
8. Stockholm
9. Amsterdam
10. Dublin
11. San Francisco
12. Sydney
13. Montreal
14. Berlin
15. Boston
16. Geneva
17. Luxembourg
18. Dubai
19. Melbourne
20. Copenhagen
21. Vienna
22. Zurich
23. Chicago
24. Perth
25. Vancouver
26. Taipei
27. New York
28. Dusseldorf
29. Brussels
30. Minneapolis

Zawya