Cityscape Post-show Report: Getting some perspective

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Cityscape 2009 was about showcasing finished or ongoing projects.

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Cityscape never fails to attract high profile visitors and local heads of state.

As Day Three of Cityscape Dubai kicked off, I published an editorial piece suggesting that Cityscape Dubai might reclaim its place among the largest and most influential trade shows in the industry. I waxed optimistic about the potential for it to be the spark that would ignite the flame of creativity throughout the industry and the region.

In that article, I pointed to the buzz that had returned to Dubai's International Exhibition and Convention Centre along with the queues of curious visitors and savvy businesspeople looking to steal glances of the latest project launches.

A month later, as I wait patiently for the official post-show report to be released, it is clear to me that Cityscape is not back. It wasn't a failure, but it's certainly not back. In fact, I'm not sure if this particular show in this particular city will ever experience the circus-like atmosphere it achieved in 2006 and 2007. I'm not sure if this exhibition will ever garner the gaudy numbers-81,162 in 2008-that have come to define it since its inception. Despite how that sounds, it's a good thing.

Regardless of where they are positioned in the building cycle, few in the industry would ever agree that the pace and fervour of pre-credit-crunch Dubai was either healthy or sustainable. In fact, despite the overflowing coffers of the boom years, I never met one architect or engineer that honestly enjoyed working at that breakneck pace. If the 2009 Cityscape did nothing else, it reaffirmed that the industry is regrouping and preparing to traverse the largely unfamiliar path of stability and achievability in its projects.

Unofficial reports claim visitor numbers for 2009 were down 50% (38,000) from 2008 and exhibitors were down from 340 to 218 over the same period. If those numbers are accurate-and I suspect they're not far off the mark-pundits and jounalists across the land will be looking to stick their proverbial forks in Dubai because, as the saying goes, "it's done".

Call me overly-optimistic or even naïve but I'm not so sure that's the case. "We saw a shift back to market fundamentals at Cityscape Dubai this year," explained Rohan Marwaha, managing director of Cityscape Dubai. "The speculators and other amateur investors were conspicuous by their absence as were any hint of unrealistic or dazzling developments. The mood was sober and professional."

Well said Mr. Marwaha. What he didn't have a chance to explain was that international participation actually increased as a year-on-year percentage, with stands from Sudan, Angola, Paris, and companies from Canada and Australia, complemented by a healthy regional presence which extended across the GCC and Iraq.

Feedback from the industry has been similarly positive. Even in Cityscape's very obvious move away from an architecture and design focus, some of Dubai's big players were pleasantly surprised by the show.

Floris Smith, director of architecture at DSA Architects-also profiled in this month's Q&A-found Cityscape "quite amazing". He said: "The number of enquiries we got from around the UAE was actually quite stunning. We also got four or five enquiries from developers in Syria."

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