Morning round-up: Emaar will hire 1,600 for Dubai Mall

Emaar Properties

is planning to hire 1,600 new employees for its hospitality and entertainment divisions. These new hires will work in the KidZania, SEGA Republic and 22-screen REEL Cinema at Dubai Mall over the next three months.

Mohammed Alabbar

, Emaar's chairman, said that the hiring spree was part of the company's diversification plans during the slow-down. AFP did a full write-up

.

Speaking of strategy, an analysis of the UAE's six public property companies by The National

: those pushing ahead with radical business changes like

Deyaar Development

and

Sorouh Real Estate

; those taking a more cautious approach to change like

Emaar Properties

and

Aldar Properties

; and those that are having difficulty navigating the dampened market including

Union Properties

and

RAK Properties

.

Eugene Harnan reports in The National that

. Robert Lee, managing director of

RetailCorp

(under the umbrella of

Nakheel

) explains that "it is used mostly as a tourist ride than a transport solution", but doesn't seem to acknowledge the reason is that Dh25 roundtrip price. If a resident were to use it every weekday - to and from their house - it would cost Dh500 a month or Dh6,000 a year! Just by way of comparison, the New York City subway price just rose to US$89 a month (or $1,068 a year). So it is $565 cheaper in New York, where you can travel anywhere in the city, than the Palm Jumeirah Monorail, which has only two functioning stops.