Dubai beats New York to become the world's second smartest city – here's why

Dubai: Dubai has been ranked the world's second most intelligent city in a new global study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), placing ahead of New York City, Washington and Amsterdam in the consultancy's inaugural Intelligent Cities Index.

Only London ranked higher than Dubai in the assessment, which evaluated how 61 of the world's biggest cities use AI, digital technology and governance to improve life for residents and businesses.

The study assessed cities across five areas — outcomes, strategy, adoption, ways of working and enablers — before grouping them into four maturity levels: leading, accelerating, emerging and developing.

According to the report, Dubai was among only five cities to achieve the highest "leading" maturity level overall, while Abu Dhabi ranked 20th globally, placing it in the "accelerating" maturity cohort.

Abu Dhabi also ranked among the world's top 10 for intelligent city enablers, reflecting the strength of its technology, infrastructure, funding, ecosystem and talent foundations.

Having two UAE cities ranked among the world's top 20 in BCG's first Intelligent Cities Index shows the progress the country has made in putting AI into everyday urban life," said Dr Akram Awad, Managing Director and Partner and Global Lead for Smart Cities at Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

He said the report highlights strong adoption of smart city applications, AI platforms and digital government services, supported by high levels of resident optimism.

"That combination gives cities a strong foundation to continue improving how people live, work and interact with public services."

According to the consulting major, each of these cities demonstrates leading maturity across at least two of the five assessment domains, although none dominates every category.

One of the strongest findings from the report is that cities embedding artificial intelligence into public services are delivering better outcomes for residents.

BCG found that cities in the top third for AI adoption provide a higher quality of life and more AI-powered public service use cases. While progress is not always linear, expanding AI deployment is described as a 'vital step for cities looking to improve their overall maturity.'

"The advancement and expansion of AI use cases can deliver better quality of life," the report said, adding that deploying AI across more services is "a necessary action" for cities seeking to boost intelligent city maturity.

The report identifies Dubai as one of the global leaders in adoption of smart city applications and AI technologies, alongside cities such as Mumbai, Manchester and Boston.

According to BCG, Dubai rolls out more smart city use cases than most cities in the study, making adoption a key pillar of its overall approach to becoming an intelligent city.

The report also notes that Dubai scores highly for resident satisfaction with smart city apps, with frequent usage creating a positive cycle that encourages wider adoption and better services.