The National

Mark Coady from Australia agrees. "Business Bay is 10 minutes to virtually all the places that one needs." Apart from the traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, he says, the area is quiet. "All the buildings are big and new. The views of the Burj Khalifia are pretty great. There are not too many buildings blocking the views and there are plenty of wide-open spaces." The Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall are a 20-minute walk away. Al Manzil Hotel in Old Town houses the Hayya Gym, which allows non-members to attend classes.

The country's main indexes rebounded yesterday as declines posted last week were seen as overdone, fund managers said. The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 1.5 per cent to 1,605.89. Emaar Properties, the developer of the Burj Khalifa, gained 1.5 per cent to Dh3.30.

Whether the problem is declining profits or potential political trouble overseas, investors in Emaar Properties have had little to shout about recently. Even the Burj Khalifa, the developer's most famous project, is facing a looming challenge from Jeddah's Kingdom Tower for the title of the world's tallest building.

The event, which took place at the Armani hotel in the Burj Khalifa two weeks ago, was so successful that Unicef doubled the initial estimates of what could be done with the money. The organisers now plan to run an annual fund-raiser that focuses on a different element of the reconstruction and rebuilding effort in Pakistan.

On the gallery wall, the painting immediately catches your eye. It would look great, you just know, in your living room. Wondering about the price, you head for the counter. But you are politely told: "Sorry, it's not for sale." For this is the Pavilion Downtown Dubai, the city's newest contemporary art space and the first to operate on not-for-profit lines.

Old Town forms part of Downtown Burj Dubai, a vast development between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road that is home to the sky-piercing Burj Khalifa. Grabbing at the skirt tails of the Burj is The Address hotel, its distinctive spatula-shaped silhouette a landmark in its own right. Next door is the cavernous retail cathedral of Dubai Mall.

Cranes are set to start sprouting up in the shadows of Burj Khalifa as Damac, Emaar and other developers rush ahead with a spate of property marketing launches. Yesterday Emaar announced it would start online registration for the 120 flats in its 20-storey Burj Vista II tower on Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, close to the world's tallest tower.

Crowds of tourists visiting the Burj Khalifa have boosted retail sales near the world’s tallest tower by as much as 30 per cent. Since the 828-metre-tall building opened its observation deck to visitors on January 4, the bustling activity has trickled down to the tills in neighbouring Dubai Mall and Souk Al Bahar, retailers say.

Depa, the contractor that installed the interior of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, has paid S$108.7 million (Dh295.1m) for a furniture maker based in Singapore as it expands its presence in Asia.

Blame it on the Burj. The slow delivery of homes in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, was the main drag on Emaar Properties’s profits for the second quarter. The Dubai developer’s share price fell 3.56 per cent yesterday to Dh3.25 as investors responded to news that its net profit for the quarter came in at Dh802 million, as opposed to the Dh958m forecast by analysts.