Dubai, Abu Dhabi rated top cities

Abu Dhabi and Dubai have emerged as the two top cities in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a new study.

In a new survey by Bayt.com and YouGov, the two emirates have consistently topped all categories, including availability of jobs, workers' rights, standard of living, environmental and socio-cultural factors, among others.

About eight in ten people (83 per cent) in Abu Dhabi and 73 per cent in Dubai said they are either "very happy” or "somewhat happy” living in their current city of residence.

The availability of jobs in Abu Dhabi is either good or excellent, according to four in ten respondents. Almost half (48 per cent) of Dubai respondents believe that the availability of jobs is either good or excellent, while 16 per cent believe it is either bad or poor.

About four in ten (40 per cent) of respondents in Abu Dhabi and 44 per cent in Dubai believe that competitive salaries are either good or excellent.

Other important economic factors in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai include benefits for working parents, personal career growth and reasonably priced amenities. Sharjah scored better when it came to the availability of affordable housing.

In terms of economic factors, Abu Dhabi and Dubai came second and third, respectively, beaten only by Manama in first place.

Labour rights

Abu Dhabi was the top-scoring city in the Mena region in terms of labour rights. Respondents from the emirate believe that they have good-to-excellent end of service benefits (50%), termination rights (42%), vacation allowances (49%), parenthood allowances (28%), wage protection system (54%), health insurance and social security systems (72%), and pro-active policy making (46%).

Environmental factors

Abu Dhabi and Dubai came first and third in terms of environmental factors. Muscat came in second place region wide.

Environmental factors form a set of important aspects related to comfort and cleanliness that affect the overall quality of life in a city. The majority of respondents in Dubai (58%) and Abu Dhabi (55%) say that the cleanliness of their city streets is excellent.

Other important environmental factors in Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively include clean air (good-to-excellent: 67% and 64%), clean water (good-to-excellent: 78% and 78%), beauty of the architecture and buildings (good-to-excellent: 85% and 92%) and manageable traffic (good-to-excellent: 71% and 63%).

Standard of living

In terms of standard of living, the UAE emerged as the top destination for high standard of living with its three cities – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah – recording the highest scores among the top ten cities in Mena.

Dubai also ranked as the top city for starting a business, followed closely by Abu Dhabi.

Dubai ranked either good or excellent among respondents on the following factors: the ease of starting a new business (52%), lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork (52%), ease of finding finances to start a business (50%), market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations (68%), market saturation (55%), ability to find local talent to employ (52%), and affordability of taxes and fees (48%).
Source: Gulf News