Everyday life at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, with evening walks along the boulevard
The closest neighborhoods in the same city.
The buildings in Downtown Dubai are built around the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa. Down below runs Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, a tree-lined avenue where people often jog or walk in the evenings.
The boulevard is lined with cafés, restaurants, and bike lanes; this stretch has only apartments, no villas or townhouses, and the residents come from a wide mix of nationalities. Housing in the whole neighborhood ranges from high-rise apartments and penthouses to branded serviced residences, and Bayut lists it as one of Dubai's most sought-after rental neighborhoods.
Following the boulevard, you reach Burj Park, which has lawns, jogging paths, and picnic areas, plus a wooden boardwalk running along the Dubai Fountain.
You don't have to go into a mall to buy groceries—there are supermarkets like Spinneys and Zoom right along the boulevard. If you want a fuller selection, Dubai's first Waitrose opened inside The Dubai Mall back in 2008.
The Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station on the Dubai Metro Red Line sits on the western edge of the neighborhood. From the station, an 820-meter air-conditioned elevated walkway takes you straight to the mall. Going by our scores, transit in this neighborhood ranks 10th out of 20 neighborhoods in Dubai.
You can definitely live here, but it's basically like living inside a tourist attraction: The Dubai Mall alone drew 105 million visitors in 2023. Bayut says this is one of the busiest spots in the whole city, with heavy traffic during peak hours. On New Year's Eve, roads are closed in stages starting from 4 p.m., and the boulevard is included in the closures.
Going by our scores, sidewalks in this neighborhood rank 12th out of 20 neighborhoods in Dubai.
Bayut only lists preschools within the neighborhood itself; for school-age kids, families are pointed to JSS Private School in nearby Al Safa.
New towers are still being completed—Il Primo Tower 1 is still under construction. Emaar has also said that The Dubai Mall will be expanded further toward Grand Drive.
Before 2000, this area was called Umm Al Tarif. Emaar developed about 2 square kilometers of land into what is now Downtown Dubai, with the starting point of the "New Dubai" era dated to June 21, 2000.
Construction on Burj Khalifa began in September 2004, but the mall actually opened first, in November 2008. On January 4, 2010, the tower was completed and ready for move-in, and the Dubai Metro station opened on the very same day.
Compared with the 20 Dubai neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Schools within the area or 1 km of it (KHDA-approved K-12 schools and universities; Dubai has no school catchments), hospitals, metro and tram stations, and parks of 1 hectare or more.
Maps show the shops and the sights. What a street is like, you only know by walking it. TidyMap uses AI street imagery analysis and public facility data to turn each area's street environment and everyday convenience into something you can compare. Search an address and look at the street outside first.
How to read it: yellow = poor, blue = good; grey = not enough data
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