'Perpetually expanding' Dubai ranked sixth best city in the world

Dubai is the best city in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a new study.

The emirate came top for the region in a ranking of the globe’s 100 best performing cities and placed sixth in the world’s top 10 cities.

The research was carried out by US consultancy company Resonance.

The study looked at six different categories – Place, Product, Programming, People, Prosperity and Promotion – in order to compile a 2020 list of the world's best cities. Factors included safety, weather, landmarks and attractions, diversity, culture, dining and economic prosperity.

Dubai ranked highly for safety and outdoors. The first category considers statistics on homicide, drugs and crime. The latter measures the number of quality parks and outdoor activities recommended by locals and visitors.

The “UAE’s president designated 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, and perhaps no other city in the emirates is as religiously open, socially liberal and future-forward as Dubai,” states the report.

"Ranked number three in our Place category, Dubai is where you can ride the elevator to the top of the world’s tallest building for a bird’s eye view, [cheer] on the ponies at the world’s richest horse race and pose for photos in front of the world’s tallest choreographed fountains," the report reads.

"The most visited mall on the planet is also here, and helps land Dubai at number 30 in our Shopping category.

"New for 2019 is Cityland Mall, the world’s first 'nature inspired' shopping mall, packed with botanical touches including 200,000 square feet of open-air gardens, which incorporate a 360-degree rooftop park, Japanese garden and mini water park."

The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour, which will eclipse Dubai's Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world when it opens later this year, the Coca-Cola Arena and Mohammed Bin Rashid Library also contributed to the city's ranking.

Abu Dhabi rises up the rankings

Neighbouring Abu Dhabi also made the rankings. The UAE capital ranked 14th best in the world, climbing 26 places from its 2019 position.

"The UAE’s second city passes on the ostentatious and pursues the culturally significant," details the report.

"Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as a leading global arts and culture hub, with the world’s largest mosque and museums designed by just about every starchitect you can name," the report reads.

"While the [Jean] Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi is already open, the city is hard at work on Saadiyat Island on the construction of a Norman Foster-designed Zayed National Museum, a Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Tadao Ando’s Maritime Museum, and the Performing Arts Center, by the late Zaha Hadid."

It also tops the People category in Resonance's rating system, which means it comes out on top in terms of diversity in the city.

"The more diverse a city’s population, the more it produces global ideas on a local scale," the study reads. "Human capital is often a city’s most valuable resource. To evaluate the relative strength of human capital from one city to the next, we consider the diversity of the city’s population – something of proven importance when it comes to attracting talent."

Resonance's top 10 global cities for 2020: 

1. London, England
2. New York City, USA
3. Paris, France
4. Tokyo, Japan
5. Moscow, Russia
6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
7. Singapore, Republic of Singapore
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Los Angeles, USA
10. Rome, Italy