Beyond Buildings: How Placemaking is Redefining ROI for MENA Developers
The Middle East's most ambitious developments are no longer competing on scale alone - they're competing on experience.
In this Extended Dialog article, we unpack what that shift means in practice, drawing on proprietary research and years of strategic advisory work to explore how human-centred thinking is becoming the region's most undervalued driver of destination value.
The Fundamental Shift: From Assets to Experiences
The traditional MENA development model has almost entirely focused on maximizing built area and achieving rapid completion.
Success is measured in square meters, absorption rates, and immediate financial returns. Sold out launches, record off plan sales and a UAE real estate boom all point to a if it ain’t broke why fix it outlook. While this may be case for now during a period of explosive growth and abundant capital, this will not always be so.
As markets mature and competition intensifies, - which it undoubtedly is, developers face a new reality: differentiation through scale, marketing and promotion of amenities alone is no longer sustainable, nor desirable for long term value creation.
Today's most successful projects recognize that lasting value emerges from creating meaningful connections—between people, culture, and the physical environment.
This human-centric approach acknowledges that in an era where people can live, work, and invest almost anywhere, the quality of place experience becomes the primary differentiator and this is only going to become more important in the coming years across the region.
The Regional Context Driving Change
Economic diversification initiatives from Riyadh to Dubai have reshaped national priorities, with governments increasingly focused on quality of life, cultural authenticity, and social cohesion as measures of development success. Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia, UAE Vision 2071, and similar regional strategies explicitly prioritize liveability and community well-being alongside economic growth.
This policy environment creates favorable conditions for placemaking investment while establishing new expectations for development outcomes. Going forward, projects that enhance social capital, preserve cultural identity, and promote community interaction will become highly valuable.
Simultaneously, demographic trends support placemaking investment. The region's young, educated population—60% under 30 in many Gulf countries—demonstrates strong preferences for experiential consumption over material acquisition. This generation seeks authentic experiences, community connection and convenience, and spaces that reflect their values and aspirations.
Quantifying the Unquantifiable: New Metrics for Success
The shift toward placemaking requires expanding beyond traditional financial metrics to capture the full spectrum of value creation. Data from successful regional projects demonstrates that thoughtful placemaking generates measurable returns across multiple dimensions.
Premium Value Creation
Properties surrounding well-designed public spaces consistently command 15-40% higher values compared to similar properties without placemaking amenities. This premium reflects buyers' willingness to pay for enhanced quality of life, community amenities, and distinctive character.
Across the Middle East's most competitive residential markets, the developments that sustain premium pricing are rarely defined by unit specification alone.
Internationally, the evidence is clear: properties adjacent to well-designed public spaces achieve up to 26% higher assessed values, and mixed-use developments with strong placemaking command a 25% rent premium over market averages. More significantly, Urban Land Institute research has shown that placemaking-led developments experienced less than half the average price decline during major market downturns — demonstrating that investment in community gathering spaces, landscaped walkways, and cultural programming delivers value that endures beyond market cycles.
For developers in the Gulf, where differentiation is increasingly difficult in a supply-rich landscape, these are not soft amenities — they are structural drivers of long-term asset performance.
Accelerated Market Absorption
Phased developments that invest in early placemaking activation consistently outperform conventional approaches in lease-up velocity. By creating immediate value through temporary installations, pop-up events, and interim programming, developers build market momentum and community interest before permanent infrastructure is complete.
The Urban Land Institute's research into creative placemaking confirms this effect — in one post-project review, a developer found that early placemaking activation contributed to faster lease-ups, higher retention rates, and a reduced overall project cycle time.
Project for Public Spaces advocates a "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" approach to early activation, capitalising on creative energy to generate new uses and revenue for places in transition — a strategy particularly relevant to the Middle East's large-scale, multi-phase developments where early phases must create a compelling narrative to sustain buyer and tenant confidence through subsequent launches.
Enhanced Tenant Performance and Retention
Retail and commercial spaces within cohesive, experience-driven environments consistently demonstrate stronger tenant performance. Industry data indicates that shopping centres incorporating experience-driven or service-based tenants typically see visitors stay 20–40% longer than those centred solely on traditional retail — directly increasing sales exposure for every tenant in the ecosystem.
A report by Madison Marquette found that integrating placemaking strategies into real estate development creates new categories of real estate that offer distinct advantages to owners and investors, including higher occupancy rates and stronger tenant retention. The economic impact extends beyond foot traffic.
When businesses benefit from organic dwell time, stronger community connection, and the halo effect of a well-curated environment, they are better positioned to sustain higher rent levels while maintaining profitability — creating a virtuous cycle for both developers and occupants.
Extended Visitor Engagement
The relationship between dwell time and spending is one of the most well-documented dynamics in retail and destination performance. Research by Path intelligence established that a 1% increase in dwell time correlates with a 1.3% increase in sales — a multiplier that compounds significantly across large-scale developments with high daily footfall.
Further studies indicate that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time can drive a 16.4% uplift in sales, while developments offering immersive, experiential environments see visitors stay up to 40% longer with 30% higher sales than traditional formats.
For Middle Eastern destinations — where mixed use developments routinely combine retail, dining, entertainment, and cultural programming — the implications are substantial. Quality wayfinding and integrated placemaking play a direct role in extending visitor engagement by reducing navigational friction, increasing confidence, and creating the psychological comfort that encourages exploration and unplanned discovery.
Every additional minute a visitor spends in a well-designed environment represents incremental revenue across multiple tenant categories.
Beyond Financial Returns: The Social Dividend
While quantitative metrics demonstrate placemaking's financial impact, some of the most consequential returns manifest in ways traditional financial models struggle to capture.
Academic research consistently confirms that well-designed public spaces strengthen social cohesion, sense of belonging, and community identity — factors that literature in community well-being and place identity theory directly links to residential satisfaction, reduced tenant turnover, and long-term property value resilience.
Enhanced Social Cohesion
Well-designed gathering spaces facilitate social interaction across demographic boundaries, strengthening community bonds and creating informal networks that enhance quality of life.
Research published in Creativity Studies found that community open spaces incorporating place attachment, sense of place, and cultural identity indicators contribute significantly to social cohesion within residential environments. In culturally diverse MENA cities — where Emirati, Arab, South Asian, and Western communities share neighbourhoods — these interactions are particularly valuable in building social capital across different communities.
The UAE is already demonstrating how culturally grounded design can achieve this. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Municipalities and Transport's "Majlisna" pilot in Al Falah neighbourhood reimagined public gathering spaces through the lens of the traditional Emirati majlis — a UNESCO-recognised cultural institution centred on hospitality, dialogue, and community connection.
Using data-driven observation to inform design, the initiative demonstrated how even modest, culturally attuned interventions can activate public life, strengthen community bonds across generations, and foster a sense of belonging.
The project illustrates a principle with direct relevance to developers: when social infrastructure is embedded into the design of a place — rather than treated as an afterthought — it creates the kind of community attachment that sustains occupancy, reduces churn, and builds long-term asset value.
Strengthened Cultural Identity
Thoughtful integration of heritage elements and cultural programming creates distinctive place identity that resonates with both local communities and international visitors. This cultural authenticity provides competitive differentiation impossible to replicate through generic amenities or imported concepts.
The most compelling regional example may be Dubai's Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. When the district faced demolition in the late 1980s to make way for modern development, a preservation campaign — ultimately championed by Prince Charles during a 1989 state visit — led to a comprehensive restoration programme.
Today, the neighbourhood's traditional courtyard houses, wind towers, and coral stone alleyways host over fifty cultural venues including art galleries, museums, artisan studios, boutique hotels, and the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding.
The annual SIKKA Art Fair draws regional and international visitors, and the district is now a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status. Al Fahidi demonstrates a principle that applies equally to new developments: when local building typologies, materials, and spatial traditions are authentically integrated into the development framework — rather than applied as superficial decoration — they create cultural gravity that generates economic activity far beyond initial projections.
Improved Public Health Outcomes
Environments designed to encourage movement, social interaction, and outdoor activity contribute to improved physical and mental health outcomes for residents and visitors. These benefits reduce healthcare costs while enhancing productivity and quality of life.
The evidence base linking walkable, pedestrian-friendly environments to public health is substantial and growing.
Research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions found clear associations between neighbourhood walkability and lower cardiovascular disease risk factors, including reduced rates of hypertension, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes. A separate study of patients in highly walkable versus least walkable neighbourhoods found 21% lower odds of hypertension, 33% lower odds of diabetes, and 40% lower odds of obesity.
Beyond physical health, walkable communities with quality public spaces are consistently linked to increased social interaction, reduced loneliness, and improved mental well-being — outcomes that translate into lower absenteeism, higher productivity, and stronger tenant satisfaction.
For Middle Eastern developments — where extreme heat can discourage outdoor activity for much of the year — the design challenge is particularly acute, making strategic shading, climate-adaptive public spaces, and pedestrian infrastructure not merely amenities but determinants of community health and long-term asset performance.
Increased Climate Resilience
Adaptive outdoor spaces that respond to local environmental conditions create more comfortable, usable environments while reducing operational costs through passive design strategies. This resilience becomes increasingly valuable as climate change intensifies regional environmental challenges.
Research conducted in the UAE demonstrates the measurable impact of climate-responsive design.
A comparative study of traditional and modern urban districts using ENVI-met microclimate simulation found that traditional passive design solutions — narrow shaded streets, courtyards, and compact urban form — produced significantly lower outdoor air temperatures and improved thermal comfort compared to modern developments.
When researchers applied shading strategies inspired by traditional design to modern districts, they achieved measurable reductions in air temperature and thermal stress. Separately, the Solar Decathlon Middle East competition — a full-scale building performance experiment conducted in Dubai — found that strategic shading alone reduces cooling loads by 6.5%, while enhanced building envelopes lower cooling demand by up to 14%.
Integrated passive cooling strategies in UAE residential buildings have demonstrated energy consumption reductions of 16–26% compared to baseline models.
For developers, these findings have direct financial implications: lower operational costs, greater year-round usability of outdoor spaces, and enhanced long-term asset value in a region where cooling accounts for over 60% of total building energy consumption.
The Creative Dialog Approach: Human-Centred Collaboration
Creating places that deliver on this expanded definition of ROI requires fundamentally different development processes — ones built on genuine collaboration rather than transactional relationships. Based on extensive regional experience, we've identified three core principles that consistently generate superior outcomes.
Listen First, Design Second
Authentic placemaking begins with deep understanding of local context, community needs, and cultural dynamics. This process extends beyond traditional market research to include ethnographic observation, community workshops, and ongoing stakeholder dialogue.
In the Middle East's rapidly evolving urban landscape, this discovery process is particularly critical. Standard market research captures stated preferences — what people say they want — but ethnographic approaches reveal how communities actually use space, how cultural norms shape gathering patterns, and where unmet needs create opportunities for distinctive design responses.
Multi-generational family use, gender-specific social dynamics, seasonal shifts between indoor and outdoor living, and the interplay between local residents and international visitors all create layers of complexity that conventional analysis misses.
When these insights inform design from the outset — rather than being retrofitted onto predetermined concepts — the resulting spaces achieve the kind of immediate community adoption that drives word-of-mouth reputation and long-term asset value.
Embrace Local Distinctiveness
Generic solutions imported from other contexts rarely deliver exceptional returns because they lack the authentic differentiation that creates lasting competitive advantage. A collaborative design process should identify the unique qualities — natural features, cultural traditions, craft heritage, emerging social patterns — that make each location distinctive.
Across the Gulf, the most commercially successful developments are increasingly those that resist formulaic approaches in favour of locally rooted design narratives.
This doesn't mean superficial references to heritage — a mashrabiya screen on a glass tower, for instance — but genuine integration of local spatial typologies, materials, and social patterns into the development framework. When a retail environment reflects the rhythms of local life rather than importing a format wholesale from another market, it creates an experience that cannot be replicated by competitors.
That irreplicability is itself a form of competitive moat, one that strengthens over time as community attachment deepens and cultural programming matures.
Design for Evolution, Not Completion
The most successful places are never truly finished — they evolve continuously in response to changing needs, emerging opportunities, and community feedback. Development partnerships should extend beyond initial design to include adaptive management strategies that allow spaces to grow and change over time.
This evolutionary approach reduces risk by enabling incremental investment based on validated performance. Project for Public Spaces' "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" methodology — widely adopted in placemaking globally — demonstrates that temporary installations, pop-up programming, and interim activation can test use patterns and community response before permanent infrastructure commitments are made.
In the Middle East's large-scale, multi-phase developments, this approach is particularly valuable: early phases can serve as live laboratories, generating real-world data on how residents and visitors actually use space, which activation strategies drive footfall, and where design assumptions need to be revised.
The result is permanent infrastructure informed by evidence rather than assumption — spaces that achieve high utilisation from day one because they've been shaped by the community that will use them.
Partner Meaningfully
True placemaking requires expertise that extends beyond conventional development disciplines. Seek strategic partners who bring deep understanding of human behavior, cultural context, and experience design rather than vendors who simply execute predetermined solutions.
Successful partnerships involve shared risk and reward structures that align all parties around long-term place success rather than short-term delivery milestones. This alignment enables the sustained collaboration necessary for places to evolve and improve over time.
The Competitive Advantage of Place
As competition intensifies across MENA's development landscape, the ability to create distinctive, meaningful places increasingly separates market leaders from followers. This differentiation becomes more pronounced as markets mature and consumers become more sophisticated in their expectations.
The most successful developers recognize that in an era of abundant capital and technical capability, the true scarcity lies in creating places people genuinely connect with emotionally. These connections generate loyalty that transcends price competition while creating word-of-mouth marketing that traditional advertising cannot match.
Moreover, places that successfully integrate cultural authenticity with contemporary functionality become destinations that attract visitors from beyond their immediate catchment areas, generating economic activity and cultural significance that enhances long-term asset values.
The Road Ahead: The Future of Value Creation
The shift toward placemaking represents more than a design trend—it reflects fundamental changes in how people value their environments and make decisions about where to live, work, and invest. Developers who embrace this shift early will establish competitive advantages that compound over time.
Success in this new paradigm requires different skills, partnerships, and metrics than traditional development approaches. However, the evidence from successful regional projects demonstrates that investments in authentic placemaking generate superior returns across multiple dimensions while creating positive impacts that extend far beyond project boundaries.
At Creative Dialog, we remain committed to partnering with visionary developers who understand that maximizing returns requires more than efficient construction or premium finishes—it demands fundamental rethinking of what creates value in the built environment. Through genuine collaboration and human-centered design, we help transform developments from mere assets into places that resonate with people and communities, delivering returns that manifest across multiple dimensions for generations to come.
Like What You’re Reading?
These articles are a small part of our research and strategic advisory Services.
The insights shared in Extended Dialog are designed to challenge assumptions, inform strategy, and spark new thinking around how destinations are experienced. But insight is most valuable when it's applied. Our role is assist our partners to turn vision into reality with frameworks that shape real decisions — from early masterplan thinking through to the details of how visitors navigate, connect with, and remember destinations.
If what you've read here has raised questions worth exploring, we'd welcome that conversation.
