Abu Dhabi leapfrogged London and Paris into second position on a list of the best cities in the world to live, work and do business in.

The 2017 edition of the Ipsos Top Cities Index finds that New York is the most popular city worldwide, retaining the title it claimed when the survey was first run in 2013. Tokyo, Sydney and Zurich secured the on fifth position with equal score.

People in 26 countries worldwide were asked which, from a list of 60 global cities, they felt were best to live in, do business in, and visit. The scores from the three questions were then added together to create the Ipsos Cities Index.

The cities in the global top five have unique strengths: New York and Abu Dhabi are unparalleled as centres for business but they score less strongly as a place to live or visit, while Paris tops the global list of tourism destinations but rates comparatively poorly as a business hub, failing to reach the top 10 on this measure. London and Tokyo have rounded profiles, scoring more evenly across the three dimensions, while Zurich and Sydney’s strength is derived from their high scores as top cities to live in.

The remaining top ten positions this year are occupied by Rome, Los Angeles and Amsterdam. The cities at the bottom of this year’s ranking are Nairobi and Tehran.

More than 18,000 people, aged between 16 and 64, were interviewed for the index.

The results highlight the significant increase in the global perception of Abu Dhabi as a commercial destination, with 21 percent of survey participants listing Abu Dhabi as a top city to do business in, just 2 percent below the leader, New York. Abu Dhabi ranked highest among participants from the three younger generations – Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z, which were all consistent in placing New York and Abu Dhabi as their top two cities.

Saif Saeed Ghobash, director general of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) said: "The rise of Abu Dhabi in this global ranking is testament to the ongoing efforts to establish the emirate as not only a tourist destination of distinction, but a location that international communities want to work, live and do business in. It’s distinct popularity among the younger generations highlight the need for global cities to diversify and innovate to sustain their position and strength as business and tourism hubs."

Ghobash continued: "With the ongoing rise of tourism in Abu Dhabi, we are confident that Abu Dhabi’s international reputation will grow from strength to strength as more international visitors experience what the emirate has to offer. As we leverage the wealth of Abu Dhabi’s cultural heritage sites, such as the Unesco World Heritage Sites in Al Ain, and the forthcoming opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi, we are confident that our position on the map of leading cities will continue to be cemented."

In the period from January to May this year, the emirate of Abu Dhabi recorded nearly 2 million hotel guest arrivals, a 4 percent growth compared to the same period in 2016. - TradeArabia News Service