Manhattan, the only US market to make the top 50 list, droppedtwo places in the ranking as Mumbai and Dublin jumped significantlyin the ranks. Mumbai went from the 11th spot last year to fifth,while Dublin moved up six spaces to the sixth spot. The growth inDublin, Maria Sicola, executive managing director of research forC&W tells GlobeSt.com, is due primarily to the rapid growth inemployment the city had during 2006. "It is a major indicator ofhow important employment growth is to a community," she says.

"Growth is being pushed by a buoyant economy and increaseddemand for office space, in particular from the financial servicessector, which employs 50% more people in the city than it did 10years ago," says James Nugent, of Lisney, C&W's Irelandpartner.

C&W also ranked the locations to experience the largestrental growth in 2006. Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates,experienced the largest increase, with rental rates climbing 200%in 2006. "Next to no space is currently available in the city ascompanies expand on the back of the current economic boom in theregion, due to the increase in oil prices," says C&W's ElaineRossall, in a statement.