Dubai is first from Arab World to join top three 'platform cities'

Dubai has become the first Arab city to be recognised as one of the world's top three "platform cities" from which to launch investment in surrounding regions, according to Foreign Policy magazine's 2008 Global Cities Index. The other two platform cities are Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

The index ranks cities' metro areas according to 24 metrics across five dimensions – business activity; human capital; information exchange; cultural experience; and political engagement. New York emerged as the No1 global city this year, followed by London, Paris and Tokyo. The Big Apple beat out other global powerhouses largely on the back of its financial markets, through the networks of its multinationals, and by the strength of its diverse creative class.

"Although the winners may be the usual suspects, they have plenty of new competition on their heels. Buoyed by their strong financial links, Hong Kong and Singapore finished at fifth and seventh, respectively. Chicago's strong human-capital performance sent it into the eighth spot," it said. "What's more, several strong performers are emerging: Beijing (No12), Moscow (19), Shanghai (20) and Dubai (27)."

As one of the three platform cities, Dubai is considered well positioned to attract huge amounts of investment through a strategic locations and international connections. "Firms don't set up shop in these cities to invest in the local economy; they move there so they can reach important foreign financial markets," Foreign Policy wrote.

Of the 60 cities, Dubai ranked 14 in Information Exchange; 19 in Human Capital; 21 in Business Activity; and 44 in both Cultural Experience and Political Engagement. This gives the city an overall ranking of 27, higher than cities like Boston, Munich, Copenhagen, New Delhi, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Dubai's high ranking in Information Exchange implies that news and information is dispersed about the city and to the rest of the world. The number of international news bureaus, the amount of international news in the leading local papers, and the number of broadband subscribers round out that dimension. Its Human Capital ranking means the city acts as a magnet for diverse groups of people and talent; while the Business Activity rank speaks of the value of its capital markets, the number of Fortune Global 500 firms headquartered here and the volume of the goods that pass through the city.

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