Dubai and Abu Dhabi's outlook in terms of personal well-being, long-term investment, GDP growth, innovation, transparency and ease of doing business has improved substantially over the last one year, thanks to the host of reforms and measures taken at the federal and emirate level.

AT Kearney's Global Cities Index 2019 has raised the outlook of Dubai by 10 positions to 32nd while Abu Dhabi's ranking leapt even higher by 30 positions to 20th, one of the best improvements in outlook ratings among 130 global cities.

Dubai's outlook is better than the capitals and developed cities of Asia, Europe and the US including Seattle, Atlanta, Beijing, Los Angeles, Seoul, Rome and Hong Kong, among others. The UAE capital, meanwhile, is rated even higher, beating the likes of New York, Washington DC, Frankfurt, Houston, Montreal, Brussels and Taipei, among others.