The Dubai Mall

Behind you is The Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping centres in the world by floor area. It opened in November 2008, in the middle of the global financial crisis, as the centrepiece of Downtown Dubai, developer Emaar’s vast project around the Burj Khalifa.

1A city under one roof

In a place where summer often climbs above 40 degrees, the mall works as a public square: people stroll here, meet friends and escape the heat. Inside there is an ice rink, cinemas, an indoor gold souk with more than two hundred jewellers and, above all, the Dubai Aquarium.

2The aquarium and its record

Its main tank holds about ten million litres of water, and its front acrylic panel entered Guinness World Records in 2008 as the largest of its kind in the world. From the mall’s public corridors you can watch sharks and rays without buying a ticket. In 2010 the tank sprang a leak that forced several shops to close for a few hours, one of the few scares in its history.

Downtown was built from scratch from 2004 onwards, on almost empty land beside Sheikh Zayed Road.

That is the great contrast with the Creek route: there, the city grew over two centuries; here, an entire district rose in just a few years.

3What to look for

• The lake, some twelve hectares, around which the district is organised.
• The Burj Khalifa reflected in the water from the promenade.
• The footbridge leading to Souk Al Bahar on the far side.