Abu Dhabi is an Emerging Global City

A couple of days ago, Forbes issued its Emerging Global Cities List for 2006 and joining Chengdu (China), Warsaw, Pune (India), Curritiba (Brazil), and Tripoli was the UAE capitial. This is what they had to say about Abbadabby:

"A kind of city-state in the mold of Singapore, this Persian Gulf archipelago hasn't experienced the same rush of foreign investment as neighboring city Dubai. But that's changing now that the Abu Dhabi government is pushing for more office and residential development. Experts expect to see less of the ultra-Vegas-style opulence that's taking over Dubai and more of the serious architecture associated with New York's Financial District. Key to realizing Abu Dhabi's faster growth is the abundance of petrodollars and a new, energetic ruler (Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan) who's actively promoting private investment in real estate."

It's always interesting to hear what the outside world think if what is going on here, and invariably it usually focuses on oil, property and opulence, even if they are not completely correct on the detail. The perception is there - we shall see if their predictions are correct.