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Building Communities That Prioritize Health and Well-Being

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A studio shot of Hamdan Al Kaitoob, Vice President - Property & Community Management, Deyaar Development
By Hamdan Al Kaitoob, Vice President – Property & Community Management, Deyaar Development

Today, more than 4.4 billion people, over half the world’s population, live in urban areas, a figure expected to climb to 70% by 2050, according to the World Bank. Cities will be home to a majority of humanity, and where we live plays a significant role in shaping our overall health and well-being. While genetics and individual choices matter, it is the environments in which we live, work, and play that exert the greatest influence on our health. This presents a unique challenge as well as an extraordinary opportunity for urban planners, policymakers, and developers.

Cities are designed, which means they can also be redesigned to better meet the needs of their inhabitants. The question is: how can we create urban spaces that foster physical, mental, and social well-being for all? The answer lies in thoughtful, community-driven design and innovative practices that integrate wellness and sustainability into the urban fabric.

Designing for wellness

Building healthier communities begins with prioritising spaces that enhance the quality of life. This involves rethinking urban design to promote connection, activity, and tranquillity. For example, walkable neighbourhoods with accessible green spaces encourage physical activity and help reduce stress in residents. Creating meandering paths through the greenery provides havens for pause and relaxation amidst the urban bustle. Quiet zones, sensory gardens, and rooftop wellness areas create spaces for introspection and mental rejuvenation.

There is an epidemic of loneliness sweeping across the world, particularly affecting young people and other vulnerable groups. While social distancing was a necessity to protect public health during the pandemic, we should now take urgent steps to bring people together in shared activities and offer more opportunities for residents to gather and connect.

In cities across the world, from Gothenburg and Berlin to Salem and London, “chatty benches” are being set up to encourage small talk. If you sit on one of the benches, it means you’re open to having a conversation with a stranger. Parks, shared community spaces, and playgrounds foster human connection, addressing urban loneliness and helping to improve mental health.

Integrating retail, hospitality, commercial and residential components within a community not only makes life more convenient and richer for residents but also promotes economic vibrancy and job creation in the area. Restaurants and venues attract both locals and people from outside the community, serving to catalyse investment in surrounding businesses and even help to boost property values. 

What’s more, strong social connections help promote overall well-being. Neighbourhoods and local businesses flourish on the back of these networks. Mixed-use communities that weave residential, commercial, and recreational spaces into one seamless urban fabric help make life more vibrant and rewarding.

Smart solutions

In today’s real estate market, wellness is no longer a luxury, it’s a fundamental expectation.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai has approved the Dubai Walk Master Plan, a visionary initiative aimed at transforming Dubai into a pedestrian-friendly city. Dubai Walk promotes active lifestyles, exercise opportunities for all, and makes walking central to daily lives. This vision will position Dubai as one of the world’s healthiest and most sustainable cities.

Developers like Deyaar are already aligning with this vision, integrating wellness and sustainability into projects such as Park Five, a new community under development inDubai Production City, designed to set new standards in urban living, increasing pedestrian and soft mobility within the community.

Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled homes and energy-efficient systems enhance convenience while reducing environmental impact. Sustainable construction, renewable energy initiatives, and waste recycling programs help support a greener future. Community apps and online platforms foster interaction through fitness challenges, local events, and shared resources.

Park Five exemplifies this vision by seamlessly combining wellness-centric living with affordability. Features like yoga lawns, infinity-edge pools, and rooftop Zen gardens encourage an active and balanced lifestyle, while energy-efficient systems and lush greenery promote environmental harmony. Thoughtfully designed pathways, reminiscent of traditional Arabian sikkas, connect residents to wellness and recreational spaces, from co-working areas to shaded outdoor cinemas.

Challenges and Opportunities

Creating wellness-focused urban spaces comes with its own set of challenges. Balancing affordability with high-quality infrastructure is a critical concern, especially in rapidly growing cities. Additionally, urban design must evolve to accommodate shifting demographics and lifestyles, such as remote work and increased demand for wellness amenities. Collaboration between governments, NGOs, and private developers will be essential in addressing these complexities and ensuring that wellness remains accessible to all.

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized, we must rethink how cities are designed. Developers, policymakers, and residents alike have a role to play in creating environments where people thrive. By prioritising wellness and sustainability, we can redefine urban living and build cities that are not just habitable, but truly life-enhancing.

Projects like Park Five by Deyaar are leading the way, demonstrating that it is possible to balance innovation, well-being, and accessibility. While creating a vision for a better future, it also provides a blueprint for making it a reality. Together, we can design communities and build cities that prioritise health, happiness, and sustainability, ensuring that urban living becomes synonymous with a higher quality of life for all.

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WHY MOST AESTHETIC CLINIC OWNERS NEVER BUILD A TRUE BUSINESS

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By Nurse SarahLouise, CEO & Founder of The Business Injection

People often ask me what the biggest lesson has been over fifteen years in this industry. They expect me to talk about marketing, or pricing, or scaling tactics and it isn’t any of those things.The biggest lesson I have learned is that you never build a business for the good days, in fact you build it for the days when life falls apart.

I started my own clinic from a back garden room, with a ten thousand pound personal loan, no investors, and no business background whatsoever. I was a single mother in the middle of a divorce at the time. I am telling you this because there have been moments in my own life where I could barely think straight, yet the business still had to serve patients, still had to support a team, and still had to generate revenue. Those moments taught me something that has shaped everything I have built since. The businesses that survive are not built by the most talented practitioners in the room, instead they are built by people who create something that does not depend on them being at one hundred percent every single day. That is the gap I see across this entire industry, and it is the real reason most aesthetic clinic owners never build a true business. They build a job instead, and they call it a business because it has a logo and a lease.

Clinical training teaches you to diagnose, treat, and deliver outstanding results. It teaches you nothing about cash flow, retention, team structure, or pricing that reflects actual value. I often describe this as an eighty-twenty problem. Clinical skill is roughly twenty percent of what a practitioner actually needs to succeed. The other eighty percent, the part nobody teaches in any training academy, is the operational backbone that determines whether a brilliant clinician ends up with a thriving brand or an exhausting job they built for themselves and cannot step away from. I see the same pattern constantly when practitioners attempt to scale, and it almost always comes down to three specific mistakes.

The first is confusing a full diary with a profitable business. I have sat across from clinic owners who are booked solid for months, exhausted, and barely breaking even, because nobody has ever taught them to look past revenue to what is actually left once costs, time, and their own labour are properly accounted for. Being fully booked feels like success. It is frequently the opposite, dressed up convincingly.

The second is scaling the treatment menu without ever scaling the experience. Practitioners add more services, more machines, more brands to their price list, believing variety is what grows a business. What actually grows a business is the experience a patient has from the moment they walk in to the moment they leave, and the relationship that experience builds. I have watched clinics with fewer treatments but a genuinely memorable patient journey consistently outperform clinics offering everything under the sun with no real identity behind any of it. Patients are no longer simply choosing a treatment. They are choosing the person and the brand behind it, and a clinic selling pure product with no experience attached to it is increasingly vulnerable to a competitor who understands that distinction.

The third, and the most damaging, is hiring and growing before any system exists for the practitioner to hire and grow into. I have seen owners bring on associates or expand into a second room with nothing documented, no consultation framework, no retention process, no consistent way of training a new team member, because everything that worked previously existed only in the owner’s head. The result is a business that cannot maintain its standards the moment the owner is not personally present, which means it has not actually scaled at all. It has simply multiplied the owner’s exhaustion.

The turning point, in my own business and in every clinic owner I have mentored since, comes down to one shift. It happens the moment an owner stops asking how to get busier and starts asking what would happen to this business if I disappeared for a month. That single question exposes everything a clinic has never built. No retention system. No documented process. No team capable of holding the standard without supervision. It is an uncomfortable question, and it is exactly the right one.

I built The Business Injection because I learned every one of these lessons the expensive way, with no mentor and no roadmap, and I do not believe any clinician should have to. The frameworks I now teach exist specifically to close that eighty percent gap, because clinical excellence alone was never going to be enough to build something that lasts.

The clinics that genuinely thrive over the next five years will not be the ones with the most treatments or the busiest diaries. They will be the ones who understood early that a business and a job are not the same thing, and who built accordingly. Anyone can build revenue for a while. Far fewer people build something resilient enough to survive the days when life asks for everything else.

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THE GUIDE THAT WILL MAKE EVERY FAMILY’S LIFE EASIER THIS SUMMER

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From childcare and learning support to home cleaning, telehealth, and baby gear refreshes, Mumzworld’s new services category brings practical everyday support into one trusted platform for modern families. Expanding beyond the shopping basket, Mumzworld is bringing childcare, home support, health, learning and children’s lifestyle services into one trusted platform. Designed around the real needs of families, the new category offers practical services through the Mumzworld app, helping parents feel more supported through the moments that often pile up.

Summer can quickly become one of the busiest times of year for families, with routines shifting and parents managing childcare, home organisation, learning, health and everyday needs all at once. For modern parents, the challenge is not always finding more things to buy, but finding reliable support that saves time, eases pressure and fits into daily life, which is where Mumzworld’s new services category comes in.

Here is how parents can build their summer survival toolkit with Mumzworld’s latest services.

Keep childcare support within reach

Summer often means parents need more flexibility, especially when regular routines change. Through the Mumzworld app, families can now access trusted babysitting services, with caregivers carefully selected, trained, and equipped with essential childcare and CPR knowledge.

For parents, this is not just about convenience. It is about feeling confident in the support they are bringing into their homes and their children’s routines.

Help kids make the most of summer with fun education

Summer does not have to mean pressing pause on learning. It can be a time for children to stay curious, build confidence and enjoy learning in a more relaxed way at home. Through Mumzworld’s educational support with Educators at Home, parents can access KHDA-approved educators who support children’s learning at home, helping families keep children engaged while still allowing summer to feel enjoyable and balanced.

Refresh the baby gear before your next holiday

Car seats, strollers and everyday baby essentials often need deeper care, especially when families are constantly on the move. Mumzworld’s baby gear cleaning service is designed for items such as car seats and strollers, helping parents keep important family essentials refreshed and ready to use.

For parents, it is one less task to manage and one more way to feel organised during the holiday season

Bring the home back under control

When family routines become fuller, keeping the home running smoothly can feel like a task on its own. Mumzworld’s home cleaning services give parents practical support with everyday home needs, helping families manage routines more easily.

It is the kind of service that supports parents in the background, creating more room in the day for everything else that matters.

Give children’s spaces a simple update

A change in season can also be a good moment to refresh children’s spaces. Through Mumzworld, families can access wallpaper design and installation services, helping bring children’s rooms to life with less pressure on parents’ time.

Whether it is a small refresh or a more thoughtful update, the service supports parents who want to improve children’s spaces without having to manage every detail alone.

Plan celebrations without the extra stress

Summer is often filled with family moments, including birthdays and at-home celebrations. Mumzworld’s birthday party planning service helps parents create memorable celebrations at home with less stress.

From planning to execution, the service gives families support in making special occasions feel easier, more organised and more enjoyable.

Keep health and wellbeing support close to home

Family wellbeing is also part of the new offering. Through Mumzworld’s telehealth services, families can connect with doctors, mental health professionals, and nutrition specialists from the comfort of home.

For parents, this brings another layer of reassurance, offering access to support without adding more pressure to already busy routines.

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THE EVENT BRINGS TOGETHER SUMMER SHOPPING AND EXCLUSIVE OFFERS UNDER ONE ROOF

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As the summer holiday season begins, Jashanmal Group is set to bring its highly anticipated Warehouse Sale: Summer Edition to Cityland Mall Dubai. Following the overwhelming response to its recent Warehouse Sales in the region, the legacy retailer aims to create a family-focused sale for all ages.

The five-day shopping extravaganza taking place from June 24th to 28th is thoughtfully designed to offer a vibrant mix of shopping experiences. Adding to the experience, the Warehouse Sale: Summer Edition will feature a curated selection of premium international brands such as Kenwood, Clarks, Kipling, De’Longhi, BALLY, Hoover, Delsey Paris, Russell Hobbs and many more.

Commenting on the initiative Mr. Anurag Verma, Chief Distribution Officer, Jashanmal Group said, “Given the overwhelming popularity and enthusiastic response to our warehouse sales this year, truly a favorite among shoppers, we are thrilled to bring the highly anticipated Warehouse Sale Summer Edition to Dubai. Summer is a time when families come together, planning their travels and preparing for the season ahead, and it is truly the perfect time to shop. At Jashanmal, we bring together everything you need, offering a complete destination for all your summer shopping needs across multiple lifestyle categories.”

As the retail shopping experience continues to evolve in line with the changing consumer lifestyles and expectations, Jashanmal Group remains at the forefront of delivering immersive, experience-led engagements whether through unique retail concepts, seasonal campaigns and enhanced shopping experiences.

Aligned with the UAE Year of the Family, The Warehouse Sale: Summer Edition underscores the Group’s commitment to community focused initiatives, while celebrating the importance of family at the heart of life in the UAE.

Mr. Verma further added, “We are proud to offer an experience that reflects community spirit, togetherness and joy of shared moments. Through our upcoming sale, we are bringing together trusted brands, exciting experiences and attractive offers in one destination, creating a shopping event that the whole family can enjoy.”

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