Doha ranks third in A. T. Kearney’s latest report, ‘Global Cities of the Future, a GCC Perspective’.
The report was developed for the World Government Summit 2017, with criteria including infrastructure mega-projects, capacity to host large political conferences and investment in education and travel sectors key to attaining this spot.
According to the report, Doha is the region’s third-most global city, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Political influence has continued to grow, with Doha hosting conferences such as the Arab League Summit in 2013 and the World Climate Summit in 2012.
Also, the city has developed a good reputation among leading international schools and universities, while undertaking ambitious infrastructure mega-projects to support future events such as the World Cup 2022.
Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways have also contributed to increasing the number of international travellers to Doha, earning it the second-busiest hub for Middle East travel.
Antoine Nasr, partner with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report, said: “Doha has grown rapidly over the past few years, and the city’s future continues to look bright, reinforced by the world’s highest GDP per capita.
“Through strategic investments and a focus on key socio-economic development goals, the government is well on its way to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030 to create harmony between human development, a global society, diversified economy and a sustainable environment.”
Internationally, the world’s most global cities remain New York, London and Paris, although the Brexit vote may change the attractiveness of London as a global hub.
Melbourne, San Francisco and Geneva were identified by the report as cities that could move forward in the future, driven by changing policies and an altering landscape.
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Mauricio Zuazua, partner with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report added: “At a greater scale and speed than ever before, cities face unprecedented growth of human and societal needs, and at the same time look to boost their economic productivity and competitiveness to increasingly stratospheric levels to be relevant and win in the global stage.
“Evidently no two cities are the same, and any city looking to play in this league must define its unique position and points of sustainable differentiation and competitive advantage,”
Since 2008, A. T. Kearney has been studying the factors that make a city really international.
These criteria include whether the city has influence and power on the global landscape and shares ideas and standards that impact other cities.
Also, the criteria includes whether capital and talent from around the world is attracted to the city.
The Global Cities of the Future report delivers a distinctive valuation of the global engagement for major GCC cities, gauging how each city interacts in five dimensions – business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and politics.
Antoine Nasr, partner with A.T. Kearney and co-author of the report, stated: “As regional cities continue to build their global influence, we expect to see strategies founded on increased innovation and differentiation. The approach we use to evaluate global cities of the future incorporates measures of both current performance and future potential of cities to attract and retain global capital, people and ideas alike.”
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