A bird’s-eye view of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

A recent study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) entitled: “Cities of Choice: Are People Happy Where They Live?,” revealed that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among the 10 most desirable destinations in the world to live in terms of economic opportunities, quality of life, growth and development.

The two cities ranked 8th and 9th respectively.

The March 2023 study covered why people move to these cities, and the measures and policies that officials there can take to attract new residents and motivate existing ones to stay. Overall, Boston Consulting's rankings reflect the ability of cities to meet the expectations of their residents.

The researchers surveyed about 50,000 people in 79 cities, to finally be able to evaluate the cities according to more than 150 economic, social and political metrics, which included five main points, which are “Economic Opportunities,” “Quality of Life,” “Social Capital,” “Interaction with Authorities,” and “Speed of Change,” in addition to 26 sub-points, such as safety, housing, and the ability to influence events.

An aerial view of the Abu Dhabi city.

The American Consultative Group classified cities into groups according to population and per capita income.

In the general assessment of the group of cities with a population between 3 million and 10 million people, and the per capita share is higher than the average, Dubai scored 57.2 points out of 100 points (in eighth place), ahead of Sydney, Atlanta, Shenzhen, Berlin and Miami, while Washington ranked first with 64.2 Point, Singapore second and San Francisco in third place.

As for Abu Dhabi, it achieved the ninth position in the overall score for the group of cities with a population of less than 3 million people and the per capita share is higher than the average, with 57.8 points out of 100 points.

Business friendly environment

In the "Economic Opportunities" axis, Dubai scored excellent results (71 points), which reflects the city's proactive measures to create a business-friendly environment and its leadership, and enhances its ability to innovate to achieve prosperity.

In addition, Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world, and over the years it has succeeded in diversifying its economy significantly by investing in sectors such as tourism, technology, renewable energy, real estate, finance, and transportation.

The "Quality of Life" axis, in which Dubai achieved (51 points), is also a decisive factor in measuring the city's suitability for living for its residents. According to the Boston Consulting Group, Dubai faces great areas for improvement and development in this area in the near future.

High social culture

With regard to the "social capital" axis, the high score obtained by Abu Dhabi and Dubai (83 points) and (74 points), respectively, reflects the residents' ability to learn about the two cities, their culture and history.

As well as the favourable conditions provided by each for the maintenance of meaningful social relations and a high level of social security and trust.

The strong score (65 points and 61 points) in the "Interaction with the Authorities" theme approved the developed governance system in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, whereby the government responds to the needs of its citizens and actively involves them in decision-making processes.

This can be seen in initiatives such as the Customer Happiness Index for the Abu Dhabi and Dubai governments, which measures public satisfaction with government services and aims to improve customer experience.

The result also confirmed that these cities have traditionally enjoyed a high level of respect for the authorities and a high degree of institutional development

As for the "Speed of Change" axis, Abu Dhabi and Dubai collected relatively good points (63 and 43 points), respectively, which means that the two cities possess the qualifications that enable them to improve their positions in the previously mentioned basic indicators with great speed and efficiency.

How quickly residents feel that their city is changing to meet their needs and are therefore likely to link their future to that city to achieve success and build a better life within it.