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FROM SMART TO SOCIAL LIVING SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM TECHNOLOGY TO QUALITY OF LIFE b y R A J A A L A M E D D I N E , C E O , L O O TA H R E A L E S TAT E D E V E L O P M E N T
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ubai’s economy, heavily reliant on international trade and tourism was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic last year. In 2019, real estate activities accounted for 7.2% growth in the GDP, with an added value of AED 29.4 billion, growing by 3.3% compared to 2018. In the Global Competitiveness Index, which is a way of ranking global cities and their attractiveness, Dubai has moved from 29th place to 6th place within the last few years. The market is witnessing a real shift in the number of first-time buyers in Dubai; many of them are people who had previously rented, but now see this as the perfect time to invest on the
18 | CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS NEWS ME | SEPTEMBER 2021
property ladder. The lockdown implemented to stop the spread of the outbreak of the pandemic led to reassessing our space and a demand for more, which in turn gave real estate developers a gradual return to confidence in the market. New community developments are now considered a big draw with the buyers and the city is continuing to have some unexpectedly positive results from the real estate industry. According to the recent statistics by UN, there has been a gradual shift in residence of the human population from rural to urban areas and today 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. High - rise and apartment housing WWW.CBNME.COM
