JEDDAH – Riyadh is considered to have the highest possibility of employment with 49 percent stating that the availability of jobs is either 'good' or 'excellent', the latest online survey conducted by YouGov and Bayt.com to understand the opinions of people living in the Middle East about the city they reside in and to assess the key cities in the Middle East on various aspects that have direct impact on the quality of life of its residents. Doha comes second with 49 percent, followed by Jeddah (38 percent), Abu Dhabi (37 percent) and Dubai (34 percent). The city considered to have the lowest employment opportunities is Beirut. Doha is considered to have the most competitive salaries according to 44 per cent of respondents, though Abu Dhabi follows closely behind with 41 percent. Other cities offering compensation that is considered to be high are Riyadh (40 percent), Dubai (38 percent) and Sharjah (30 percent). The most affordable housing can be found in Sharjah, with 47 percent of its residents claiming residential costs are 'good' or 'excellent'. This is followed by Manama with 44 per cent, and Muscat with 34 percent. Would-be entrepreneurs of Sharjah (43 percent) and Dubai (40 percent) rate their cities highly in terms of 'ease of starting up new businesses'. Cities in the UAE, are rated highly by their residents for their 'lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork. Dubai receives highest rating with four out of ten respondents, followed closely by Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, each with 38 percent. End of service benefits are seen as being highest in GCC cities, especially in Sharjah (44 percent), Abu Dhabi (42 percent), Manama (42 per cent) and Kuwait City (41 percent). Abu Dhabi and Manama also rank highest in terms of employee satisfaction with termination rights, with 41 percent each. Manama at 53 percent, is good/excellent in terms of their vacation allowances. Also, respondents in Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City also ranked their allotted annual leave days highly. The statistics show least ratings received by Cairo (only 18 percent). Cities in the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi (44 percent), rated positively with regards to the wage protection system. It has also scored highly in terms of 'provision for health insurance', followed by Riyadh and Jeddah. The city with the least perceived air pollution is Muscat according to 70 percent of the city's residents, while Abu Dhabi ranked second with 61 percent. Dubai and Sharjah earned 54 percent and 52 percent, respectively, while the cities voted with the cleanest water are Muscat, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both tied with 91 percent of respondents each claiming that their city has the cleanest roads and streets, followed by Muscat with 81 percent. Almost three quarters (71 percent) of Muscat-based respondents believe their city have low levels of noise pollution, with Abu Dhabi coming in second (64 percent), Dubai third (56 percent) and Sharjah a close fourth (55 percent). Residents of Abu Dhabi voted their city as good/ excellent in terms of having greenery (68 per cent), closely followed by Muscat where 67 percent of respondents also claim that their city has substantial green areas. Cairo scored lowest across the board, with seven out of 10 (68 percent) of Cairo residents claiming that their city has the least clean roadways; 74 percent of residents stating it as having the most polluted air; 65 percent stating that the level of water pollution is 'bad' or 'poor'; 72 per cent stating that noise pollution levels are high; and 58 percent stating that there are few green areas in the city. Muscat and Abu Dhabi both rated consistently high throughout this section of the survey, suggesting the Omani and UAE capitals may be the best cities in the region in terms of the environment. Following on from its high positioning in terms of green areas, cities in the UAE - Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah - rank highest in terms of the availability of parks and community recreation areas, followed by Muscat. Abu Dhabi receives highest ratings in terms of availability of quality healthcare facilities with seven out of ten residents (70 percent) rating the available health care facilities as 'good' or 'excellent'. Manama ranks second (65 percent) in terms of availability of medical facilities, and the respondents from Bahrain's capital rank the quality of health-care higher than that available elsewhere. Traffic congestion is lowest in Abu Dhabi and Manama, according to 42 percent and 40 percent of respondents respectively, while Cairo's roads are thought to be busiest. Pedestrian walkways/footpaths are provided for most in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and least in Cairo. Entertainment venues are most plentiful in Dubai, according to 85 percent of survey respondents, followed by Abu Dhabi, Beirut (both at 73 percent) and Manama (72 percent). Residents of Tunis have rated their city very highly (63 percent - good/ excellent) on equality amongst genders. Levels of equality are also perceived to be high in Muscat (60 percent) and Manama (55 percent). Also Tunis, Manama and Marrakech respondents also state a high level of acceptance. On the other hand, Kuwait City is seen as having the least fair treatment of all nationalities (according to 66 percent of respondents), followed by Riyadh (64 percent) and Jeddah (61 percent). For those cities that do embrace multicultural societies, Muscat comes top with 73 percent of respondents stating tolerance is 'good' or 'excellent'; Marrakech and Abu Dhabi both garnered 69 percent each, followed by Dubai and Rabat (both with 67 percent). The residents of Dubai claim to have a high quality of life, with 73 percent ranking their lifestyle as either 'good' or 'excellent', while Abu Dhabi's residents ranked it second with 70 percent. People are most dissatisfied with the quality of life in Beirut and Damascus, though Algiers comes a close third. – SG
