 A City Mayors survey ranked Dubai 44th among the world 's best financial cities in 2007 , while another report by City Mayors indicated that Dubai was the world 's 27th richest city in 2012 , in terms of purchasing power parity ( PPP ) . Dubai is also an international financial centre and has been ranked 37th within the top 50 global financial cities as surveyed by the MasterCard Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index ( 2007 ) , and 1st within the Middle East . 
