Dubai Creek Harbour

Dubai Creek Harbour sits on the water the city actually started from. The creek was the original harbour and the district takes its name and its orientation from it, facing back across the water at the skyline rather than standing inside it.

It is a master planned district in the strict sense. The promenade, the marina, the retail and the residential towers are being delivered in phases by a single hand, which means the pavement and the coffee shop tend to arrive with the building rather than several years after it. The trade is the one that always comes with a plan of this size: the district is finished in sections, and a buyer in an early phase lives beside a later one for a while.

A protected wetland sits opposite, and that is more than scenery. It puts a permanent limit on what can ever be built on that side of the water, which is a rare thing to be able to say about a view here.

Stock is apartments, arranged so that the skyline view is the product. It suits a buyer who wants a planned neighbourhood and a view that is unlikely to be built out.