Mohammed Bin Rashid City (MBR City)

Mohammed Bin Rashid City is less a community than a territory. The name covers a very large stretch of land between Downtown and Meydan that the government set aside for a set of master developments, and the ones that have been built are among the most sought-after addresses on the inland side of the city: a district of villas around the largest man-made lagoon in Dubai, a developer's own quarter of apartments and villas along the creek's inland reaches, and a growing number of others. The register rolls all of them up under this name. MBR City is Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City, named for the Ruler of Dubai.

The place

The land lies between Al Khail Road and Ras Al Khor Road, with Downtown and Business Bay minutes to the north, Meydan and the racecourse to the south and Nad Al Sheba to the east. Its districts are separate developments with their own gates: the lagoon district with its beach, its cycling track and its large villas; the creek-side developer quarter with its apartment towers, villas and school; and the newer quarters of townhouses and mid-rise buildings between them. Parks, a large one among them, thread the whole.

What you get

Nearly everything: very large villas on the lagoon, family villas and townhouses in the developer quarters, and apartments from studios to family layouts in the towers along the creek's inland side and the newer districts. All of it is recent, and much is still handing over. Position and district decide price: the lagoon's shore is a market of its own.

Who it suits

Families who want a new villa within minutes of Downtown, and will pay for the lagoon. Buyers of apartments who want a new flat with a park and a school in reach and a short run to the centre. Investors, for whom the territory's steady handovers have made it one of the busiest resale and letting markets in the city.

It suits people less well who want an established neighbourhood, a walkable high street, or a finished place: the territory will be building for years.

Buying and renting here

The register holds several markets under one name and this page rolls them up; each district's own page carries its own record, and a buyer should read that rather than the territory's average. Off-plan is a large share of the market and is kept apart from resales here. The register files a villa sold with its plot against the plot, and this page reads those sales correctly. For tenants, the official index caps a renewal while a new lease follows the market.