By 2025 Abu Dhabi’s employment will mostly be within the leisure , culture and other sectors

Among emerging economies, Abu Dhabi is home to most hospitals per capita

Least crime rate reported in Abu Dhabi among other emerging economies

Abu Dhabi ranked 22nd among 27 cities in the fifth edition of Cities of Opportunity, an annual report released today by PwC and the Partnership for New York City. Cities of Opportunities 2012 analyses the current performance of 27 cities at the centre of finance, commerce and culture and studies the cities’ potential by the year 2025. In addition, the study analyses city employment in the most significant and telling job sectors and projects the trajectory of the cities in jobs, productivity, and population to 2025.

Cities of Opportunity forecasts growth in employment rates towards 2025 in Abu Dhabi’s business services, especially in manufacturing, transport and communications, education and hotels and restaurants. As Abu Dhabi joins the world’s developed cities in terms of jobs today, the study shows that the biggest part of employment will be in the leisure and culture sectors and by 2025 reaching 20.3%, and the city’s total business services will grow by nearly 9 per cent.

“We have always perceived the UAE as a positive environment for growth and we have selected its capital, Abu Dhabi, as one of the 27 cities to be part of the Cities of Opportunity due to its position as a financial, commercial and cultural centre that continues on a path of growth and development,” commented Jacques Fakhoury, PwC Abu Dhabi Senior Partner. “At PwC we have repeatedly discussed talent as core to developing an economy and we are proud to see that Abu Dhabi’s workers continue to add great value to its economy, with the city’s productivity topping the chart ahead of New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.”

With the highest number of hospitals per capita, Abu Dhabi is the top ranked emerging economy in the health, safety and security category, bringing it to a tie with Tokyo. It has surpassed Los Angeles, Paris, Madrid and Hong Kong for this indicator among developed economies. Abu Dhabi also reported the lowest crime rates, bringing it closer to Singapore and Hong Kong, economies that have fared very positively on low crime rates year on year. The capital secured top performance in other key indicators including:
6th in the cost of business occupancy
9th in consumer price index
15th in the iPod index: measuring number of working hours needed to afford an iPod Nano
2nd lowest cost in public transport.
Abu Dhabi has resources that many cities don’t have access to, and with the city’s 2030 vision for a sustainable future, the Cities of Opportunities report cites great expectations for the city to improve on its current sustainability ranking. Abu Dhabi ranked last in the sustainability and the natural environments indicator, mainly due to finishing last in two variables, public park space and recycled waste. It has also ranked third from the bottom in thermal control and air pollution.

“The Cities of Opportunity report is a detailed and insightful analysis of how leading global cities stack up against one another,” added Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City. “New York City and London, along with other established cities, maintain their top status because of a depth and diversity of strength across all measures. But the true value of this report is not just the rankings; it is that every city can learn from one another about what works when building a 21st century city.”

The full report, along with in-depth interviews with E.O. Wilson, emeritus professor of entomology at Harvard, Bill Bratton, former New York and Los Angeles head of police, and other leaders are available at http://www.pwc.com/cities.