As the world’s financial markets are roiled by the worst crises in a generation, all eyes in Dubai are on Cityscape.
The annual conference, which takes place from Oct 6 to Oct 10, is widely perceived as the pulse of the property market in the UAE. It is the largest of its kind in the world and often the scene of high drama, including sales made furtively in hallways, billion-dollar debuts of new buildings and some of the best minds in the industry discussing the future. More than 60,000 people are expected to attend this year.

“This has come at the best time possible,” said Rohan Marwaha, the managing director of Cityscape. “Given what’s happened in the US and the collapse of financial institutions on a global scale, there are a lot of questions on people’s minds.”
Mr Marwaha said the conference theme would undoubtedly emerge as “how the Middle East is going to be affected by the current crisis around the world”.

But that’s not the only thing hanging over Cityscape. In the past 12 months, a wide-ranging corruption investigation has landed top property executives in jail, and analysts have started predicting an imminent decrease in prices in the years ahead. Confidence in the market is wavering in some quarters.

And while Mr Marwaha believes that Dubai’s fundamentals are strong enough to make it through another 12 months unscathed, interviews with property experts, developers and economists show a widespread unease has emerged, especially in the last week.

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