Dubai Holding, Emaar launch new ‘tech-driven’ mega mall

Dubai Holding and Emaar Properties have launched a mega ‘tech- driven' retail project at the Dubai Creek Harbour development. The new Dubai Square mall, which will offer 8.07 million sqft of gross retail space – equivalent to the size of more than 100 football pitches – has nearly double the gross leasable area of Dubai Mall.

Located in the centre of Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Square will be spread across three levels and feature the Middle East's largest Chinatown, an events arena, luxury retail, dining and leisure outlets, a cineplex, a waterpark and an art district. The mall, which will promote ‘omnichannel retailing', will offer customers options to shop via desktop, mobile or at a retail store, the companies said. Digital facilities will include custom-designed mobile apps, quick checkout solutions, search and barcode scanning applications, radio-frequency identification technology, mobile payments and click- and- collect services.

Dubai Square will be linked directly to the Dubai Creek Tower – set to become the city's tallest tower – through an underground extension.

The mall is expected to play a “central role” in driving retail sales in Dubai, which are projected to reach more than $43.8bn (Dhs160bn) by 2021. It will serve the 20 million tourists expected to visit the city by 2020.

Abdulla Al Habbai, chairman of Dubai Holding, said: “Dubai is experiencing tremendous tourist inflow and continues to rank highly as a holiday destination for people from many different parts of the world.

“Dubai Square is our new retail and leisure destination, and with this we aim to actually redefine the shopping experience by introducing a variety of innovative concepts.”

Dubai Creek Harbour features over 7.3 million sqm of residential space, nearly 940,000sqm of retail precincts, 300,000sqm of commercial space, 700,000sqm of parks and open space and 5,800 hotel rooms.

When completed, the development will be home to more than 200,000 people.