Abu Dhabi has broken into the world's top 10 smartest cities in a new ranking as the emirate continues with its digital transformation agenda.
The UAE capital climbed three places from last year to 10th in the Smart City Index 2024 compiled by Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which was released on Tuesday.
Dubai also rose in the ranking of 142 cities, rising from 17th last year to 12th.
Riyadh climbed five places to 25th, while Makkah and Jeddah came 52nd and 55th, respectively. Doha rose 11 places to 59th while Muscat was 88th.
The list is based on assessments of economic and technological aspects of smart cities, as well as factors such as quality of life, environment and inclusion.
It assesses the perceptions of residents on issues related to structures and technology applications available to them in their city. Each score is computed by referring to the past three years of the survey.
"Cities must design and adopt strategies that can resist the test of a future plagued with growing uncertainties,” said Bruno Lanvin, president of the Smart City Observatory, part of IMD.
“Health-related concerns remain high, while climate-related ones grow even larger, a mix complicated by renewed international tensions. Trust and good governance are growing in importance, and the significance of [artificial intelligence] in city design and management is set to increase. Counterintuitive as it may sound, AI can help cities to become more humancentric.”
Smart city plans
A smart city uses the latest information and communications technology to connect people and devices, improve operational efficiency and boost economic activity.
Abu Dhabi ranked high for safety (87.4 per cent), culture and leisure (88.7 per cent), public transport (83.8 per cent), green spaces (84.7 per cent) and medical services (86.3 per cent), the report found. Dubai also ranked strongly for safety (88.5 per cent), medical services (82.2 per cent) and public transport (79.7 per cent).
The UAE cities have made significant strides with their smart city plans as they use technology to accelerate their strategies of becoming knowledge-based economies.
In February, Abu Dhabi and Shenzhen signed a twin city agreement to share knowledge and collaborate on smart city projects across several areas including infrastructure, city planning, green mobility, transport, advanced technology, autonomous solutions, sustainability and urban development.
Abu Dhabi-based Bayanat, an AI-powered geospatial data products and services provider, said in August it was working on boosting its capabilities to ensure the emirate was “first in the world” when it comes to smart city infrastructure.
Singapore-based companies are also collaborating with Abu Dhabi groups including Adnoc, the Department of Municipalities and Transport, and Masdar City to develop smart city pilot projects in the emirate.
These include transforming street lighting as well as increasing the energy efficiency of Al Dannah City buildings, Abu Dhabi Investment Office announced last year.
Meanwhile, in Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority unveiled its Digital Strategy 2023-2030 in December, which involves 82 projects aimed at scaling up its smart city plans.
This involves "enabling 100 per cent FinTech-driven mobility, increasing digital service adoption to 95 per cent, digitising the skill set of RTA’s employees to as much as 100 per cent, and developing 50 artificial intelligence use cases”, the RTA said at the time.
Top 10 smartest cities globally
In a top 10 largely dominated by Europe, the Swiss city of Zurich retained top spot – a position it has held since 2019 (except for 2022, when the ranking was not released).
Oslo in Norway came in second, also maintaining its position since the index began, while Australia's capital, Canberra, retained third place.
Geneva, Singapore, Copenhagen, Lausanne, London and Helsinki rounded off the top 10.
The report said Abu Dhabi, Zurich, Oslo, Singapore, Beijing and Seoul have been the most consistently high-performing cities in the top 20 since the index began.
"Cities in the top 20 are geographically located in areas where social and economic environments are relatively predictable, even against the overall climate of global uncertainties," the report said.
"They are also cities in which visible initiatives have been taken to facilitate the lives of citizens and to improve the overall ‘quality of life’ associated with their respective names."
Poacher
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”
November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."
October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December."
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
