Global CityIntelligence

United Arab Emirates / Western Asia

Dubai City Intelligence

Dubai is a global trade and services hub known for fast-moving infrastructure, large-scale renewable-energy projects, and active climate adaptation in hot, arid conditions. Dubai is a western asia city of about 3.7M metro in United Arab Emirates. On the composite city-intelligence score, Dubai sits comfortably above the indexed median (80/100).

Last updated
2026-05-16
Data year
2025
Population
3.7M metro
View of Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Image credit: Image: Tim Reckmann from Hamm, Deutschland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Visual context

Additional verified imagery for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Each photo is sourced from Wikimedia Commons with full attribution and a permissive license.

Overall score

Dubai is most informative for users comparing service depth, digital infrastructure, and renewable progress against heat exposure and water-resource constraints.

Overall80/100
Affordability62/100
Air quality65/100
Energy78/100

Overall city intelligence

Strong

80/100

Strong infrastructure and service depth with heat and water-resource exposure to manage.

Solar resource

Exceptional

Among the strongest solar irradiance levels globally.

Heat adaptation

Active

Cooling demand and outdoor-design choices shape urban planning.

Dubai data table

The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.

Dubai city intelligence data table
MetricValueContext
Overall score80/100Composite score across major city intelligence modules.
Cost of Living62/100Dubai is mid-tier on cost of living, with housing and services costs varying widely across districts and household profiles.
Air Quality65/100Dubai's air-quality profile is shaped by desert-dust events and traffic-related pollutants, with monitoring and indoor-air strategies as key practical inputs.
Energy78/100Dubai has very strong solar resource and large-scale renewable projects, balanced by structural cooling demand and resource-import dynamics.
Safety88/100Dubai scores high on safety, with very low violent-crime context and reliable institutional response across the metro.
Internet Speed90/100Dubai delivers fast fiber broadband and reliable 5G coverage, supporting financial services, logistics, and remote work.
Climate Risk60/100Dubai faces meaningful climate exposure from sustained heat and water-resource constraints, balanced by active adaptation and infrastructure investment.
Resilience78/100Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context.

Safety

Deterministic safety estimates from our index — planning signals derived from country priors and city data, not official crime statistics.

Safety

Overall safety81/100
Low crime84/100
Personal safety84/100
Night safety75/100
Road safety80/100

Dubai ranks in the upper tier of our safety index (81/100), with strong personal-safety and low night-time indicators.

Quality of Life

A composite quality-of-life estimate and its component indicators.

Quality of Life

Quality of life75/100
Healthcare82/100
Education82/100
Green space44/100
Cleanliness82/100
Infrastructure100/100
Mobility70/100

Dubai has a high quality-of-life estimate (75/100), with notable strengths in healthcare, cleanliness and infrastructure.

Family Friendliness

How the city scores for raising a family, with the indicators that drive it.

Family Friendliness

Family friendliness74/100
Education82/100
Green space44/100
Overall safety81/100

Dubai scores high for family living (74/100), helped by education access, safety and healthcare.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Suitability for remote workers, based on connectivity, mobility, and livability.

Digital Nomad Suitability

Digital nomad suitability76/100
Walkability67/100
Cycling47/100
Infrastructure100/100

Dubai is high for remote workers (76/100), based on connectivity, affordability, safety and overall livability and day-to-day amenities.

Retirement Suitability

Suitability for retirement, weighing healthcare, affordability, climate, and environment.

Retirement Suitability

Retirement suitability71/100
Healthcare82/100
Cleanliness82/100
Outdoor lifestyle19/100

Dubai is high for retirement (71/100), appealing for healthcare access, affordability and a clean environment.

Emergency and public safety in Dubai

Local public safety guidance for Dubai, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.

Unverified

For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Dubai, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the United Arab Emirates emergency profile, which currently lists no verified national contacts.

Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.

Healthcare and hospitals in Dubai

Healthcare context for Dubai, with national-level information from United Arab Emirates where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.

Unverified

For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Dubai, see the United Arab Emirates healthcare profile, which currently lists no verified national healthcare information.

Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.

Transport and mobility in Dubai

Local mobility context for Dubai, with national-level context from United Arab Emirates where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.

Unverified

For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Dubai, see the United Arab Emirates transport profile, which currently lists no verified national transport information.

Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.

Air quality dataset

Source-attributed air-quality dataset for Dubai. Verified measurements are surfaced when published from accepted official datasets; transparent fallback is shown otherwise.

Air quality dataset for Dubai

Verified data unavailableLast updated 2026-05-16 / data year 2025

Verified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location

Source-attributed values for Dubai will appear here after the platform integrates verified measurements from accepted official publishers. Until then, structured air-quality module context remains available on the dedicated module page.

Dubai air-quality dataset coverage
MetricValueData yearStatus
Air qualityVerified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location.

Data provenance

Source attribution

  • Global City Intelligence — air-quality dataset

    Verified data unavailable
    Publisher
    Global City Intelligence
    Last verified
    2026-05-16

    The air-quality dataset begins empty by design. Verified city-level measurements appear here only after they are sourced from accepted publishers (WHO, EEA, US EPA, OpenAQ, OECD, or official national/city environmental agencies).

Related comparisons

Pairs that share a city, comparison intent, or region — useful for users planning a wider relocation, remote-work, or business decision.

Explore Dubai modules

City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.

Cost of Living in Dubai

Dubai is mid-tier on cost of living, with housing and services costs varying widely across districts and household profiles.

Air Quality in Dubai

Dubai's air-quality profile is shaped by desert-dust events and traffic-related pollutants, with monitoring and indoor-air strategies as key practical inputs.

Energy in Dubai

Dubai has very strong solar resource and large-scale renewable projects, balanced by structural cooling demand and resource-import dynamics.

Safety in Dubai

Dubai scores high on safety, with very low violent-crime context and reliable institutional response across the metro.

Internet Speed in Dubai

Dubai delivers fast fiber broadband and reliable 5G coverage, supporting financial services, logistics, and remote work.

Climate Risk in Dubai

Dubai faces meaningful climate exposure from sustained heat and water-resource constraints, balanced by active adaptation and infrastructure investment.

City rankings

Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.

Cost of living in Dubai

Cost of living estimates for Dubai — monthly budgets, rent, food, and transport in the local currency, plus an affordability score for comparison. Planning estimates derived from country baselines, not live prices.

Climate in Dubai

Climate profile for Dubai — Desert climate, annual average 25.7°C, comfort score 51/100. Month-by-month temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, and the best months to visit. Deterministic planning estimates, not a forecast.

Economy and jobs in Dubai

Economy and jobs profile for Dubai — major economy, economy score 80/100, key industries including energy, technology, tourism. Employment, salary, startup, remote-work, and career indicators. Deterministic planning estimates.

Universities and education in Dubai

Education profile for Dubai — regional education center, education score 70/100, 5 representative universities, plus research, student life, and international-student indicators. Deterministic dataset, not institutional rankings.

Healthcare and retirement in Dubai

Healthcare and retirement profile for Dubai — regional healthcare center, healthcare score 71/100, retirement score 63/100. Medical access, specialist and emergency care, affordability, and retirement suitability. Deterministic planning estimates.

Arrival planning guide for Dubai

Practical arrival planning context for Dubai — links into transport, public-safety, healthcare, budgeting tools, and methodology. Not an official airport or travel instruction service.

Estimate a monthly budget for Dubai

Estimate a monthly budget for Dubai using your own housing, food, transport, healthcare, and lifestyle inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official cost-of-living measurement.

Plan a trip budget for Dubai

Plan a trip budget for Dubai using your own accommodation, food, local transport, activities, travel, healthcare buffer, and emergency buffer inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official travel cost estimate.

Nearby cities from Dubai

Where else nearby you could spend a day or a weekend from Dubai. Links are derived from geographic proximity, shared region, shared natural-recreation areas, transport corridors, and country borders — not popularity or tourism rankings.

Doha, Qatar

Cross-border · about 377 km from Dubai. Explore Doha's city intelligence profile.

Muscat, Oman

Cross-border · about 379 km from Dubai. Explore Muscat's city intelligence profile.

Manama, Bahrain

Cross-border · about 483 km from Dubai. Explore Manama's city intelligence profile.

Interpretation

Dubai is most informative for users comparing service depth, digital infrastructure, and renewable progress against heat exposure and water-resource constraints. Its standout dimensions are internet speed (90/100) and safety (88/100). The area most worth watching is climate risk (60/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16. Drawn from 4 institutional references.

Country context is available on the United Arab Emirates country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Dubai appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.

Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.

Sources

4 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.