Muscat: The Omani capital has got the thumbs up from its residents for providing the cleanest water as well as maintaining a healthy environment in the city, according to a survey carried out by an online portal in 12 countries of the Mena region.
According to 70 per cent of the city dwellers, Muscat is the city with the least air pollution, followed by Abu Dhabi (61 per cent), Dubai and Sharjah with 54 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.
The residents also voted Muscat at the top for providing its residents with the cleanest potable water followed by Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both tied with 91 per cent of respondents each claiming that their city has the cleanest roads and streets, followed by Muscat with 81 per cent, according to ‘Top Cities of the Middle East’ survey, recently conducted by online portal Bayt.com.
Almost three quarters (71 per cent) of Muscat-based respondents believe their city has low levels of noise pollution, with Abu Dhabi coming in second (64 per cent), Dubai third (56 per cent) and Sharjah a close fourth (55 per cent).
Residents of Abu Dhabi voted their city as good/excellent in terms of having greenery (68 per cent), closely followed by Muscat where 67 per cent of respondents also claim that their city has substantial green areas.
Moreover, 70 per cent of Omani residents think that air pollution is low in Muscat (21 per cent rate term it excellent and 49 per cent say it is good), followed by Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
According to the survey’s respondents, the top five cities in the Arab world to live in are, in order: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Manama, and Muscat. The survey factored in economic factors, entrepreneurial factors, labour rights, environmental factors, everyday life, socio-cultural factors, and quality of life.
Job availability across the region is considered to be ‘average’ in most cities. Riyadh is considered to have the highest possibility of employment with 49 per cent, with the availability of jobs either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. Doha comes second with 49 per cent, followed by Jeddah (38 per cent), Abu Dhabi (37 per cent) and Dubai (34 per cent). The city considered to have the lowest employment opportunities is Beirut.
The most affordable housing can be found in Sharjah, with 47 per cent of its residents claiming residential costs are ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. This is followed by Manama with 44 per cent, and Muscat with 34 per cent.
Following on from its high positioning in terms of green areas, cities in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah — rank highest in terms of availability of parks and community recreation areas, followed by Muscat.
