Droves of Dubai families and young professionals are turning their back on the hustle and bustle of city-centre life to opt for the quieter suburbs.
One area benefitting from the exodus is the Al Qudra Road, where many are opting for suburban life in the Mira and Town Square communities.
The surge in demand for these areas has seen occupancy rates rise, which has led not only to prices rising, but an increase in facilities.
“In Town Square there is a mini fair for the children, including a mini train ride, community events in the town centre, a trampoline park, splash park, cafes, restaurants and more,” said Lewis Allsopp, chief executive of Allsopp and Allsopp real estate.
It's no longer essential to be close to the centre of the city as there is more and more for people on their doorstep
Lewis Allsopp,
Allsopp and Allsopp
“The community attracts families in the villas and a lot of young families and young professionals in the apartments.
“Mira is like a Mediterranean village in its architecture and has an abundance of park areas … as well as pools and play areas.”
As popularity rises, both Mira and neighbouring Mira Oasis have had community gyms open in the last year. A mosque is also being built.
“If there is a negative that has been associated with the communities it's the slightly further distance to the more central areas of the city,” said Mr Allsopp.
“However, recent works on Umm Sequim are easing some of that pain, and this is coupled with the increased suburbanisation of the city. It's no longer essential to be close to the centre of the city as there is more and more for people on their doorsteps.”
Traffic problems
“I moved here eight weeks ago from Manchester and chose Town Square because I prefer the quiet life,” said Haider Ali, 39, a doctor from Sweden.
“It actually reminds me of the UK when I used to live in the suburbs.
“I looked around Dubai at other areas but this area seemed unique and was a little bit away from the main part of the city.”
Mr Ali pays Dh110,000 for a town house in Town Square. He also works at the local medical practice in the community.
“There’s a nice expat community and it really ticks all the boxes for me,” he said.
“The only downside is the traffic. It’s almost a 30-minute drive to anywhere else in the main part of Dubai.”
Landlords rule the roost
Mr Allsop said that it was very much a landlord’s market at the moment.
“Supply is low at the moment and demand is high so anything coming to market is in high demand,” he said.
“A lot of properties in Mira are renting before they go on to the market, enabling landlords to get a good price.”
Nshama, the management company behind Town Square, forecasts that by 2025, 85,000 people will be living and working in the community.
Leigh Wilmot, senior broker with Treo Homes, who specialises in the area, said properties are almost all occupied.
“The demand for property in Town Square is absolutely ridiculous,” said Mr Wilmot.
“So many people want to live there even though the prices have increased.
“When somebody moves there’s somebody else moving in almost immediately. I would say the occupancy is around 95 per cent.”
There are currently 2,600 town houses and 6,000 apartments in Town Square, Mr Wilmot said, with plans for further expansion.
In Mira, there are just under 1,900 properties.
Rising rents
Saher Ahmed, a 31-year-old British Indian dentist, rents a property in Mira.
“The primary reason for choosing to live here was because of the children, she said. “There are great facilities here and in neighbouring areas and it’s competitively priced.”
The average price of an apartment to rent in Town Square starts from just over Dh25,000 for a studio apartment up to D95,000 for a four-bedroom unit, according to the latest figures from Property Monitor.
Renting a town house starts at just over Dh102,000 up to more than Dh121,000.
Neighbouring Mira, which is directly across Al Qudra Road, offers town houses and villas for sale and rent.
To rent a town house in Mira starts from an average of just under Dh119,000, up to almost Dh135,000. Villas starting from close to Dh139,000, rising to more than Dh175,000 for the bigger units.
The two communities have long been attractive to residents but that appeal has only grown in recent months due to escalating rent prices across the emirate, said one real estate expert.
“Spacious, affordable properties in peaceful areas have always been attractive to home seekers, which has led these two communities to maintain a high demand,” said Thomas Poulson, leasing director with Haus & Haus real estate.
“This is even more noticeable now as a lot of people are being ‘priced out’ of more centrally located villa communities such as Dubai Hills, Arabian Ranches, Meadows, and the Lakes.”
More residents now buying
One resident who bought his home in Town Square was Matt Trenchard, 44, from the UK.
“We were previously living in an apartment in The Greens and had our first child four months ago, so we needed somewhere with more space,” said Mr Trenchard, who runs a business coaching company.
“It feels like a village on the outskirts of the city. I won’t tell you what I paid but what I can say is that I got lot more for my money than I would have in a lot of other places.”
Another major draw of living in the area is being close to the Al Qudra cycling track.
That was a big draw for Aruna Subin, 40, from India, who bought a property in Mira.
“My husband and I are keen cyclists and decided to move here as we used the track regularly when we lived in Ras Al Khor, so this cut down a lot of travelling,” said Ms Subin, who works in the logistics sector.
“Our quality of life has improved. The community comes together to celebrate festivals all over the world. This is something we didn’t have before.”
England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
