At Cityscape Dubai last year, Gulf real estate firms launched some $100 billion worth of new projects on the show’s first day. But expectations for this year are markedly different. Considering the struggle that the regional real estate market has been going through since September 2008, few or no projects are expected to be launched and the number of exhibitors and visitors will likely be a fraction of last year’s. Rohan Marwaha, the managing director of Cityscape, told CEO Middle East magazine that the exhibition is expected to be 25 to 30 percent smaller than last year, though official figures indicate the number of exhibitors will be markedly less. “Considering the global economic turmoil, it would be unrealistic for anybody to assume that the event will be as big or attract as many visitors as last year,” Marwaha said. At Dubai’s Novotel Trade Center, where rooms are usually booked for
