The activity of trawling round an overly air-conditioned shopping centre perhaps defines the Dubai experience. It is a popular pastime that unites the emirate's mishmash of cultures.

The launch of the region's largest retail centre, Dubai Mall, comes at a pivotal moment as the United Arab Emirates braces itself for a global slowdown that threatens to deflate the regional business activity and feelgood consumerism of the Gulf's seven-year boom.