A comparative analysis of urban outdoor open spaces in Dubai’s low-rise developments

Dubai has recently witnessed new horizontal low-rise developments (less than 40 meters in height) with open public spaces, simulating types of outdoor shopping malls. Projects such as City Walk, Box Park, and La Mer, proved that outdoor shopping malls can be successful, despite the issue of weather. Although there are no distinct attractive elements or landmarks, such places became favorite destinations for Dubai residents and tourists. What attracts people to visit those places? What are the hidden factors behind their success? The purpose of this article is to explore and discover the visible and invisible elements that attract people to visit and spend time in these urban outdoor open spaces. Initially, we extracted eight key elements from the literature: placemaking, various anchor facilities, contextual links, diverse programs, community, regional identity, security, and convenient services. Based on the statistical analysis, we found that the users are more metropolitan than neighborhood types. Overall, Dubai users considered placemaking, various anchor facilities, convenient services, and contextual links as the most important factors, followed by regional identity.