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29 March 2024

Dubai residents are a happy lot: CDA survey

Published
By Staff

Happiness is not just a state of being but also a subject of study, which indicates that a ray of sunshine beams through this city’s population.
 
A recent survey indicates that the emirate’s happiness average smiles back at 7.9, on a scale from one to 10.
 
Organised by the Community Development Authority (CDA) and held in cooperation with the Dubai Statistic Center, the Social Study Results 2011 included 19,924 individuals, which was further categorised in 3,995 families, 1,992 UAE families, 1,701 expatriate families, 302 grouped families, and 500 individuals from labour communities.
 
The study aims to further strengthen community service standards in Dubai.
 
Contentment is key
 
According to the survey, the happiness average among Emiratis was 8.3 on the scale, with western expatriates coming in at 8, followed by 7.9 for Arab expatriates and 7.8 for Asian expatriates.
 
It also indicated that 93 per cent of Dubai’s community felt secure and protected; among Emiratis families this figure was at 96 per cent and expatriate families reaching 89 per cent.
 
The study covering social cohesion said that the highest satisfaction percentage of families was among Europeans at 97.7 per cent, followed by Arab families 97.3 per cent, Asian families 96.9 per cent, and Emirati families 93.6 per cent.
 
It appeared the highest percentage of cultural diversification in Dubai was among Arab expatriates (81.7 per cent), followed by European families (81.1), Asian families (77.3) and Emirati families (65.9).
 
When it came to human rights the study discovered that 95 per cent of Dubai’s population felt secure in their financial resources to meet their food requirements, and that only 17.5 per cent of non-Emiratis did not agree that human rights were not protected in Dubai.
 
About 93 per cent of Dubai residents expressed pride about Dubai and almost 80 per cent were proud of Emirati culture, while 57 per cent were proud of the Arab language.
 
Community development
 
Khaled Al Kamda, Director General of CDA, said: “The move reflects CDA’s keenness to enhance social services in Dubai according to Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.
 
“The study is a path-breaking initiative that helps decision-makers and public and private sectors to design policies and plans through an accurate database.”
 
He added: “Through this study, CDA seeks to monitor the general perception about the social services sector and determine the positives and negatives in this filed.
 
“We are keen to enhance cooperation with strategic partners and co-launch promising initiatives and programmes that are useful for the community….”
 
The initiative measured the levels of key performance indicators for CDA’s strategy (2010-2014), and identify issues and meet the different social demands of the community.
 
The study covered various sectors such as life in Dubai, human rights, social cohesion, social services and needs, national identity, personal values and opinions and social empowerment.
 
The CDA is a government entity mandated with enhancing the social development in Dubai to achieve the Dubai strategic plan 2015, which was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on February 2007.