Which Is The Fourth Largest City In UAE No wonder it ranks #28 for Culture globally and #33 for Restaurants, with a flurry of post-pandemic launches happening now—from food halls like Railway Heights and farmers' markets to Top Chef finalist Dawn Burrell's Late August. The fourth-largest city in the U.S. is also Top 10 globally for GDP per Capita and home to the 15th-highest number of Global 500 companies on the planet. The recent development of the Houston Spaceport, a hub for innovation, education and commercial spaceflight, is the future of the region's space industry—and brings us all a step closer to space tourism. For now, Houston's 22.3 million annual visitors —of which 3.28 million were international travelers—arrive and depart by more conventional means (at least they did pre-pandemic). One of most well-known tourist destinations in the world, Dubai is the biggest city of UAE. The city is based on the Persian Gulf's southeast coast and serves as the capital city of the Emirate of Dubai.
Dubai has emerged as one of the biggest cosmopolitan cities of the world and the business hub of the Middle East. The city is famous for its ambitious constructional projects like the Palm Islands and " The World" which are artificial islands off the coast of Dubai. Dubai's economy is mainly dependent on international trade and to a small extent on oil that is a limited resource in the city.
Tourism, real estate, aviation, and financial services are also major sources of revenue in Dubai. The city is the world's 22nd most expensive city and the most expensive one in the region. In 2014, the hotel rooms in Dubai were ranked as the second most in the world after those in Geneva. A thriving desert metropolis, Phoenix offers some of the best Mexican food this side of the border, a growing roster of fine museums, a vibrant artist community and 300 days of sunshine—with the #12-ranked Weather of any city on the planet. Get a street-level view of the city's increasingly considered urban planning with a stroll through Roosevelt Row Arts District, or RoRo, as locals have taken to calling it. Despite the built environment's ascent, Phoenix is still an outdoor city, year-round, and ranks #98 globally in our Parks & Outdoors subcategory.
Take a close-up look at Camelback Mountain, where summit trails are not for the faint of heart, especially in 100-degree Fahrenheit heat—though the base of the mountain also offers easier and equally beautiful trails for beginners. Phoenix has been somewhat insulated from the economic ravages of the pandemic, but it does have a long way back with an unemployment rate and income equality levels well out of our Top 100. One thing that's apparent the second you stroll the controlled velocity of Osaka is the swagger of its citizens.
This was the capital of what is today modern Japan a millennium before Tokyo, after all, when it served as "the nation's kitchen"—the distribution point for rice, the most important measure of wealth. Osaka still knows how to eat, ranking #14 globally for Restaurants, and is best known for its okonomiyaki—cabbage pancakes stuffed with an ever-changing lineup of fillings. It's also still an economic force, ranked #12 on the planet for most Global 500 companies. But it's the impressive #25 ranking in our Programming category—led by a #10 spot for its shopping scene—that made Osaka the fastest-rising Japanese tourist city prior to the pandemic.
The return of visitors is eagerly anticipated, and many will be sure to check in at Japan's first W Hotel, which opened in early 2021 and was designed by Osakan Tadao Ando, who won the coveted Pritzker Prize for his body of work in 1995. Also newly opened is Super Nintendo World as part of Universal Studios Japan, featuring more Mario immersion than any human being could ever need. In the face of poverty and injustice—and environmental catastrophes compounded by both—NOLA has created a culture of presence, music and festivals that may pale in size to others in the world, but never in intensity.
It's why the city ranks #27 globally for Programming, our category spanning shopping, dining and after-hours vibrancy. Given the need to celebrate, seize the day and revel in all that fusion of humanity and culture and sweaty new people and ideas, the city ranks #18 in our Nightlife subcategory. It grows more refined and local as it weaves into Marigny, Bywater or the timeless jazz seduction of Frenchmen Street. New Orleans also shines in our Shopping subcategory, ranking #23 and ahead of cities like Berlin and San Francisco, helped by the intoxicating treasures of Magazine Street convincing visitors that their finds are only available here and now.
In the last few years, the city has been renovating and expediting projects languishing since the Hurricane Katrina rebuild. Having been gutted by one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates among American cities, New Orleans is once again getting up off the mat. This year couldn't have started worse for Australia's fourth-largest city. Just days after residents were ordered into lockdown due to the pandemic, some had to flee their homes as wildfires encroached, eventually burning 20,000 acres and dozens of properties. At places like Six Seasons Gallery, you can see some 3,000 Indigenous works of art from across Australia, each offering insights into Aboriginal life and culture. The Noongar experience is woven throughout the 60,000-person Perth Stadium, in art installations, trails, interpretative storyboards and digital storytelling—an enriching foil for the cricket and football played there.
Perth ranks #14 for People, up 13 spots year over year, including #9 for Foreign-Born Population. The big global draw is the coveted University of Western Australia, which reached 37th best on the planet in this year's ranking. Germany is in the middle of Europe, Frankfurt is in the middle of Germany, and its airport—the largest in the country—is one of the world's aviation hubs (#3 in our Airport Connectivity subcategory).
The city rises above most others with its #2-ranked convention center, which draws more than 4.5 million visitors annually . In 15 minutes, conventioneers who fly into FRA can find themselves at the massive Messe Frankfurt, the world's largest trade fair and event organizer, featuring its own exhibition grounds. A short stroll in any direction takes visitors to shopping, restaurants, museums and other pleasures to mix with the business of the day. The convention center is scrambling to salvage its business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has managed to quickly bounce back with the "hygiene concept," a typically German comprehensive system for safely organizing an event.
JPMorgan is moving hundreds of employees from London to other European cities, mainly Paris and Frankfurt, as well as approximately 200 billion euros in assets to Frankfurt from London. Munich boasts the world's top ranking for its convention center—and its airport is ranked #10 (soon to improve after a $550-million reno is done in 2023), ensuring ease of access to all that business. The local Technical University of Munich, which brands itself "the Entrepreneurial University," also finished just outside the Top 25 in our University Ranking subcategory. All these attributes make up our Product category, for which the city ranks #4 globally, its highest ranking here ever in a one-spot improvement over last year. Small wonder, with all that infrastructure and entrepreneurship, that Munich is also ranked Top 25 for Global 500 headquarters . The city's economic resilience shined through the pandemic, as it improved by a staggering 25 spots in our Prosperity category, to #22 globally.
Fast-growing Tucson is buoyed by its sense of place, ranking #24 in our Weather and #65 in our Parks & Outdoors subcategories. The second-smallest city by population in this year's Top 100, Tucson is poised to ascend up future global rankings after its first appearance this year, due to a torrent of new investment in all manner of green and common space. Its new Sun Link LRT is sure to improve quality of life, creating a focus on fewer cars and more walkability that's designed to pull the sprawling population together, closer to downtown.
Urban innovation that taps its outdoor bounty by increasing access to it is not a hard sell for a town where almost 25% of residents are aged between 20 and 34. You can thank the University of Arizona (ranked #45 globally in our University subcategory) for the city's youthful bounce. House prices are rising fast as the post-pandemic migration from larger urban centers powers Tucson. New arrivals are often surprised by the town's impressive 74th-best shopping on the planet. Given its deep roots in the creation of the Union almost 250 years ago, Philadelphia is a dense, cataloged embodiment of American values and traditions, easily accessible and eagerly shared. Small wonder, then, that it ranks an impressive #54 globally in our Sights & Landmarks subcategory, and #43 in our sprawling Product category (comprised of difficult-to-build big city infrastructure like airport connectivity and museums).
Speaking of which, the city's #44 ranking in our Museums subcategory is likely to improve, given this cultural behemoth's recent investments (sure to also improve Philly's #32 ranking for Culture in the coming years). Joining icons like the Liberty Bell Center this year is 90,000 square feet of new public and exhibition space at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as part of the Frank Gehry-led expansion. The city is also investing outdoors, with the central section of the Delaware River Trail opening this year for those not ready to mingle quite yet. No wonder National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveler are heaping accolades.
The City of Brotherly love has the same number of Global 500 companies as global destinations like Melbourne and Singapore, and its growing population ranks #35 globally for GDP per Capita, as its glittering skyline rises ever upward. Although Toronto is Canada's business heart, it's Calgary—featuring the country's youngest population and home to its oil industry-forged entrepreneurialism—that's always been the challenger. People here walk with the velocity of New Yorkers and cut to the chase like Texans. Ranking #23 globally in GDP per Capita, by far the highest in Canada, the city is now in the midst of an economic hardship not seen in decades . The pandemic added to the misery, which has manifested into one of the highest unemployment rates among Canadian cities over the past year. New projects, like the recently opened Central Library in the burgeoning cultural hub of East Village, reinforce the city's long-lauded quality of life, despite current struggles.
Its relative housing affordability will also attract new talent priced out of other large Canadian cities. Being the largest city in a region that generates more than $60 billion in tourism-related revenue every year (2020 and '21 being the notable exceptions) gets you plenty of lift from a rising tide. That's a lot of visitors with a story to tell if you give them the means to tell it. Its #33 ranking in our Promotion category drove its overall ranking, including collecting the eighth-most Tripadvisor reviews of any city on the planet.
Orlando plans buzzy product releases with military precision—and suffered deeply when confronted with an invisible enemy it couldn't defeat quickly. Its many high-budget, tourism-reliant initiatives were cut short, from SeaWorld's new Sesame Street, rolled out for the show's 50th anniversary, to LEGOLAND Resort's debut of Lego Movie World. The new Exploria Stadium houses the local MLS men's and women's teams, with seats for 25,500 fans and plenty of placemaking rising around the emerging neighborhood.
Not surprisingly, Orlando ranks #6 globally in our Attractions category, a vital metric for the city's tourism economy. The environment for a molecular evolution from chilly productive resource town into a curated hotbed sufficiently isolated to do its own thing has been here for years. A recent downtown revival has now catapulted the city into the "urban renewal" conversation that has been happening in other North American industrial regions. The catalyst has been the new Rogers Place arena downtown, occupied by the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers.
The fossil-fuel-based economy was already in a tough position before the pandemic and has only descended since, making Alberta among Canada's economically hardest hit provinces in 2021. But the city is still a beacon of opportunity, boasting the 40th-best GDP per Capita in the world, 39th-best Income Equality and, increasingly vital in a runaway Canadian real estate market, affordable homes relative to local incomes. Less than an hour's commute from Washington, D.C., Baltimore offers a slower pace of life and significantly cheaper housing than its hyper-charged neighbor to the south.
But the time to buy into one of Baltimore's diverse, historic communities may just be right now—home prices in the city reached a 10-year record high in July 2020. Baltimore is also home to world-class institutions like Johns Hopkins University (ranked #6 globally) and the National Aquarium, as well as a quirky culture that makes Charm City a place like no other. It also earns a #72 ranking for Museums, and many—from historic ships to the highly acclaimed Port Discovery Children's Museum—are clustered around the Inner Harbor, which for 50 years has served as a nationwide model for the reuse of post-industrial waterfront.
Long a progressive beacon of diversity in Georgia, Atlanta's rich legacy of American civil rights—the city is the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.—powered the long-conservative state to flip to the Democrats in the 2020 election. The eyes of the world were on Atlanta in November and January, and saw the city's embrace of a rich, living history, from the must-see National Center for Civil and Human Rights to the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Small wonder, then, that ATL performed well in our Promotion category, including #12 globally for Google Search. Atlanta has always been a crossroads—open to new ideas and to the new arrivals who came to this lush, hot, rolling land when the city rose as a railroad terminus. Today, it's still a transportation hub, with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport one of the busiest airports in the world (80% of the U.S. population resides within a two-hour flight). It's why the city ranks #12 for Airport Connectivity nationally, as well as #35 in our Convention Center subcategory, resulting in an overall #25 ranking for Product.
Budapest is quickly emerging as a European second city on the rise, fueled, post-pandemic, by digital nomads looking for urban vibrancy on a budget. The city, which is split in half by the expansive bend of the Danube River, delivers in spades. On the west bank is medieval Buda, hilly and full of history, and on the east is Pest, modern and bohemian.
The two were first linked in 1849 by the iconic Széchenyi Chain Bridge and together they now offer an alluring whole that ranks the city in the Top 10 for Attractions and Top 25 for Museums globally. Ornate baths, old-fashioned cafés, lively markets, Art Nouveau splendors and a fascinating history sweep visitors off their feet. At night, Budapest's Communist-era factories and parkades come alive as "ruin bars," a distinctly Eastern European approach that keeps the city's nightlife (ranked #16) fresh and surprising. It was here that Spanish settlers established the region's very first mission in 1769. It ranks #14 in our deep Place category—with an impressive finish for Parks & Outdoors, at #16 globally.
San Diego is as naturally endowed as any place has a right to be—its sublime 263 full and partly sunny days annually help rank it #14 for Weather, while the 23 beaches—70 miles of them—within city limits make it synonymous with SoCal surf culture. In what will surely be the exclamation point announcing that San Diego is back, Comic-Con will resume as an in-person event in late 2021, just in time for the much-anticipated opening of the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park's former Hall of Champions building. The United Arab Emirates is a Middle Eastern country that is located on the Arabian Peninsula's southeast end and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Oman to the east. The population of UAE was 9.2 million in 2013 of which only 1.4 million were native Emiratis and the rest all expatriates. The UAE is a federation of 7 emirates that was established on December 2, 1971. The biggest city in UAE, Dubai, is a global city and a major international aviation hub.
Minneapolis has become a household name as the site of the George Floyd murder at the hands of local police officers, an event that sparked a global movement against systemic racism and police violence. In addition to their vital role in a fight for justice, residents have long advocated for their city, the results of which can be seen in numerous parks, bike trails and placemaking along a prime location on the mighty Mississippi. With 18 Fortune 500 companies—the most per capita of any American metro area—Minneapolis scores an impressive #15 in our Global 500 subcategory.
The highly educated workforce (ranked #21 globally) enjoys easy access to the rest of the world via the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (#47 for Airport Connectivity). With a #61 ranking in our Culture subcategory, the city's heart still belongs to beloved hometown recording artist Prince, whose suburban home and studio, Paisley Park, opened as a museum in 2016. The city is facing a long way back from a trying 18 months, with its ranking for Safety plunging by 44 spots year over year, all the way down to #156 globally. It's also an affordable one at that, where real estate and travel often costs half of what it does in most Western European capitals.
But whereas the city was incredibly safe two years ago, that ranking plunged by a horrifying 76 spots in the past year, from #21 to #97. Hopefully, the Top 5 most-educated citizens on the planet can think of ways to fix this crisis. Ranking in the Top 25 for Attractions globally, and with visitors poised to arrive post-pandemic in record numbers, Warsaw's time as a coveted European capital is now. A wander through the swanky, recently gentrified Södermalm neighborhood, the birthplace of many of these tech giants, will reveal why the city ranks #48 in our GDP per Capita subcategory.
Despite all this, the city tumbled 23 spots in this year's ranking due to its 52-spot drop in our Unemployment Rate subcategory. The emirate's Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Dubai was recently named the best destination for Muslim travellers by Salam Standard. Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the city's largely South Asian and Filipino workforce.
Dubai's property market experienced a major deterioration in 2008–09 following the financial crisis of 2007–08, but the emirate's economy has made a return to growth, with a projected 2015 budget surplus. As of 2012, Dubai was the 22nd most expensive city in the world and the most expensive city in the Middle East. In 2014, Dubai's hotel rooms were rated as the second most expensive in the world, after Geneva. Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by U.S. global consulting firm Mercer. Nashville and its citizens have always taken care to invest their money wisely, including for the preservation of historic buildings and to revitalize neighborhoods like Germantown, which was established in the 1850s by European immigrants.
Such focus on placemaking and tactical urbanism will put the city on the map globally in future years. Until then, the music scene thrives here, particularly as a younger generation of musicians—Jack White and the Black Keys come to mind—has chosen to live and set up recording studios in town. With a #59 ranking for Programming , the city is finally getting the recognition it deserves for its long but subtle influence on the American fabric. With a #34-ranked university , #43 ranking for Global 500 companies in town and its high COVID-19 infection rates in the rearview, Nashville is poised to return to its pre-pandemic upward trajectory. The #3-ranked city for Weather and its relative Safety (#38 globally) attract a diverse population (ranking #6 for Foreign-Born Population) eager to tap its wealth and its ambition to build a meaningful capital.
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