2
Dubai International Financial Centre stands out as an area that can be labelled a primary central business district. Its rental value is testament to its status as one of the primary business destinations in the Middle East region
3
2
In addition to the Middle East facilities, Gensler
is working on financial districts in locations such as St Petersburg, Iskandar in Malaysia, Baku in Azerbaijan and Shanghai. Yet Mulcahey stresses that the characteristics of financial centres do not differ greatly from country to country. “Different countries have different ways of doing business; however, finance is very much a global business. The characteristics of the centres are becoming less different because the occupiers are global businesses. Some cities want unique charac- teristics to be reinforced, but the requirements of the tenants – who are actually using these facilities – are pretty similar. “In the Far East you have the overlay of
Feng Shui – which affects the precise posi- tioning of certain elements and open spaces – but it probably doesn’t change the nature of the planning that much.”
4
A common trait of financial districts is that they are high
density, as Mulcahey explains: “When financial companies set up offices in a new city they seek a location which contains their required services and even their competitors. They like to locate in the position of choice for financial companies and as a result they tend to group together in a relatively close district. “That’s the way that companies are used to operating
in New York and London and it’s the way they want to do business. They want to be face-to-face and within walking distance of all the service providers that they need.” Yet these two established financial centres tend to have
bigger buildings than those in emerging destinations. “In New York and London there’s a heavy trading influence from the banks, which changes the nature of the buildings. You get bigger companies with more employees, which are much more focused on maximising the building with efficient floor plates. In the less developed financial centres, banks have smaller numbers of staff and require smaller dealing spaces.” ➔
apr-may 2010
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