Dubai: Dubai’s strengths in human capital, business activity and information exchange were enough to name it as the most “global city” within the Gulf, part of a global ranking done by the consultancy A.T. Kearney. Abu Dhabi came in second and ahead of Doha, Riyadh and Jeddah.
In the global index, London, New York and Paris retained their top spots — but the future rankings are less certain. “While London attracted the highest FDI in 2015 globally, that may change given the Brexit vote,” the consultancy states. Future candidate cities for top honours could be Melbourne, San Francisco, and Geneva, “driven by changing policies and a shifting landscape”.
“At a greater scale and speed than ever before, cities face unprecedented growth of human and societal needs,” said Mauricio Zuazua, Partner with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report. “And at the same time look to boost their economic productivity and competitiveness to increasingly stratospheric levels to be relevant and win in the global stage.
“Evidently no two cities are the same, and any city looking to play in this league must define its unique position and points of sustainable differentiation and competitive advantage.”
Global platform
Dubai’s standing will be built around its newly launched Industrial Strategy 2030, which aims to transform the city into a global platform for knowledge-based and innovation-focused businesses.
The report states that “Dubai has the highest growth potential among the GCC cities across all dimensions and is already emerging as a leading global city.”
According to Michael Romkey, Principal at the firm and a co-author of the report, “Dubai is a fantastic example of how a city plans ahead. It has a high growth potential among the cities in the GCC across all dimensions and continues to capitalise on its current capabilities and position.”
Another strong contender would be Kuwait City, with its “strong growth in human capital and business activities largely the result of a recent move toward political stability, evolution in the health care sector, and major plans for infrastructure development.”
