Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are the region’s most sustainable cities, says new index

Dubai is the most sustainable city in the region, followed by Abu Dhabi and Doha, respectively, according to the inaugural Sustainable Cities Index from Arcadis, the leading global natural and build asset design and consultancy firm.

Dubai sits in first place among the Middle East, followed by Abu Dhabi and Doha Jeddah and Riyadh lead the way on environmental sustainability in the region Doha performs stronger on Profit factors than People and Planet.

The Index, which was conducted by the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) explores the three demands of social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) to develop an indicative ranking of 50 of the world’s leading cities. The 2015 report finds that no utopian city exists, with city leaders having to manage a complex balancing act between the three pillars of sustainability.

Across the world, cities are performing better for being sustainable for Profit and Planet purposes than they are for People factors. Many of the world’s economic powerhouses are becoming less affordable for their citizens, with the cost of property in New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong penalizing their rankings. There is also a trade-off globally between strong education and poor work-life balance, particular demonstrated in Hong Kong.

“The trade-off between Planet and Profit is most starkly seen in the Middle East where Dubai and Doha score much lower on environmental factors than economic ones,” said Terry Tommason, Doha City Executive of Big Urban Clients at Arcadis. “Cities in the Middle East have seen the highest real term population growth over the past five years, with Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi experiencing a rise of over 30 percent, putting a strain on city infrastructure.”

Overall the top ten and bottom ten cities in the 2015 Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index are:

Dubai leads in the Middle East at 33^rd, followed by Abu Dhabi at 34^th, Doha at 41^st, Jeddah at 43^rd and Riyadh at 44^th. Dubai also takes first place in the region on the Profit sub-index at 27^th, followed by Doha at 30^th.

Abu Dhabi tops the Middle East People sub-index at 25^th due to success in dependency ratio and income inequality. Meanwhile two cities in Saudi Arabia – Jeddah at 39^th and Riyadh at 40^th – lead the region’s way on Planet factors, scoring particularly well for drinking water and sanitation and low levels of air pollution.

“City Leaders need to find ways to balance the demands of generating strong financial returns, being an attractive place for people to live and work in, whilst also limiting damage to our environment,” said Hisham Malaika, Jeddah City Executive at ARCADIS. “To truly understand how sustainable a city is, we must understand how it ranks in People, Planet and Profit. Then we can act to assess priorities and the pathway to urban sustainability – for the good of all.”

Middle East cities-index:

 People sub-index:

Planet sub-index:

Profit sub-index: