Built on desert from 2004 as the centrepiece of Mohammed Bin Rashid City — a planned 2km² district anchoring modern Dubai. The Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, the Dubai Fountain, Dubai Opera, and Souk Al Bahar are the headline pieces. On a Thursday evening the fountain draws a crowd that would fill a stadium.

The residential towers are expensive and well-located, popular with finance and DIFC workers who want to walk somewhere. Traffic is a constant problem; parking is a constant problem; the grid was not designed for the number of people who want to be in it simultaneously, and everyone has accepted this.