When does an expat stop being an expat? Why people are putting down roots in Abu Dhabi

For millions of people, moving abroad begins with a job offer. Deciding to stay and build a life in a new city is a rather more complicated decision. 

A new role, a better salary or the chance to accelerate a career can persuade someone to move thousands of miles. The assumption is often that it will be temporary. 

Then life intervenes. Children settle into school. Friendships form. Weekends acquire their own routines. A rented apartment becomes a home. Three years becomes five, and five becomes ten. 

“A job can get you to move somewhere, but a job alone rarely makes you fall in love with a place,” says Florida. “People stay because they begin to build a life. They find their neighbourhood, their friends, the places they like to go. Eventually the city becomes part of who they are.” 

The emirate has attracted an international workforce for decades. Its economic expansion is now creating opportunities across finance, technology, artificial intelligence, life sciences, tourism and the creative industries. 

But attracting talent is only half the equation. 

“The competition between cities has changed,” says Florida. “Talented people have more choices about where they live and work. The cities that succeed will be the ones that can offer opportunity and a great everyday life at the same time.” 

Florida calls this “quality of place”, an idea that runs through much of his work. His research has argued that the characteristics of a place itself can play a major role in where skilled and mobile people decide to establish their lives. 

The commute matters. So does the school run. Access to good healthcare and education, culture, economic opportunity, green spaces and the ability to meet friends easily all contribute to whether somewhere works as a place to live.  

“People sometimes think liveability is about big attractions or spectacular buildings,” Florida says. “Those things have value, but most of your relationship with a city is built through everyday life. Is there a good park nearby? Can your children get to school easily? Do you enjoy your neighbourhood? Can you meet people and feel part of something?” 

That thinking echoes Florida’s previous argument that investments such as parks, schools and cycling infrastructure can be particularly valuable because they become lasting assets embedded in a community.  

Saadiyat Island has developed around culture, education, beaches and residential communities. Yas Island has become a major leisure and entertainment destination. Established and emerging neighbourhoods are giving residents increasingly different choices about how and where they live. 

The relationship international residents have with the city appears to be changing too. In the first half of 2026, expatriate residents and foreign buyers together represented 70 per cent of residential sales value in Abu Dhabi, according to official figures. 

Buying a property is not proof that someone intends to stay forever. But it is a rather different commitment from signing another annual rental contract. 

“Home ownership can be one signal that people are starting to see a city differently,” says Florida. “The bigger shift happens when people stop asking, ‘How long am I going to be here?’ and start asking, ‘What kind of life can I build here?’ That is a very important transition for a city.” 

Cities around the world invest significant time and resources in attracting businesses and skilled workers. Retaining those people creates a different kind of value. Employees build experience, entrepreneurs establish companies and families develop deeper connections to their communities. 

Florida has long argued that talent, innovation and economic activity tend to cluster in particular places, making the ability to attract and retain people an important part of economic development.  

But there is a warning in his work too. Successful cities can become victims of their own success if housing costs and inequality make them inaccessible to the people who keep them functioning.  

“A truly liveable city has to work for more than its highest earners,” Florida says. “Teachers, nurses, hospitality workers, young families and entrepreneurs all have to be able to see a future there. Otherwise you can create economic success without creating a sustainable community.” 

It is this relationship between people, place and economic competitiveness that Florida will discuss at LIVEX in Abu Dhabi this week. 

For Abu Dhabi, the question is particularly timely. The emirate has already demonstrated that it can attract people from around the world. 

“Cities used to ask how they could attract companies,” Florida says. “Increasingly, they have to ask how they can attract people, keep them and give them reasons to put down roots. If people choose to build their lives in your city, a lot of the economic benefits follow.” 

For the expat who arrived with a three-year plan and is still there a decade later, the answer may be simpler. 

At some point, the place you moved to for work became home.