Achieving the rank of 52nd out of 100 of the World’s Most Sustainable Cities, Dubai was also ranked first among the eight cities on the list from the region.
The list was compiled by Arcadis, a construction consultancy company, and compiled by the Centre for Economic and Business Research. Abu Dhabi came in second of the eight MENA cities, and 58th overall. In eight place for the region was Amman, Jordon, ranked 86th on the worldwide list.
The overall ranking was based the results of three sub-categories: social (people), environmental (planet) and economic (profit.) On the economic index alone Dubai was the fourth city globally, surpassing world leaders such as New York, Paris, and Tokyo. On the other side, when it comes to environment, Dubai scored at the very bottom; 96th worldwide. It achieved such a low ranking due to its pollution, energy consumption, and lack of green spaces.
Energy consumption and carbon emissions do remain high in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, largely due to the climate, volume of development, and the traditional reliance on fossil fuels,” said Ben Khan, on behalf of Arcadis Middle East.
“This is an area that both cities are actively looking to address though, and it forms a key part of the UAE’s Vision 2021,” he added. “The focus on improving the energy efficiency of buildings through rating systems like Estidama and Al Safat will help, as will planned investment in upgrading the water and transport networks in both cities.”