What’s On has news a boost for shopping in Dubai with plans by Damac to create a Champs-Elysees/Rodeo Drive style luxury development off Umm Suqeim Road.

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– Guide to Dubai Souks

Fans of the film Pretty Woman will know that shopping in Beverley Hills means one thing: “Rodeo Drive, baby”.

Now Dubai is getting its own version of the famous street, a 1.3km-long shopping strip, lined with designer boutiques and high-end restaurants.

Akoya Drive, which will be built in Damac’s luxury Akoya development off Umm Suqeim Road, will also be home to an outdoor cinema, an ice-skating rink, children’s entertainment areas and a nine-hole golf course.

Damac has said it will also take inspiration from another world-famous shopping avenue – the Champs- Élysées in Paris. The developer said Akoya Drive would provide a “central point” for residents of Arabian Ranches, Motor City, Jumeirah Village and surrounding areas.

“Akoya Drive will blend the most exclusive brand designs with a relaxed, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere that takes you away from the fast pace of the city,” Niall McLoughlin, Damac’s senior vice president, said in a press release.

Mr McLoughlin said the new development would provide a welcome contrast to shopping in “air-conditioned boxes”, adding that something different had to be done for Dubai’s shoppers, such is the enormous competition.

The statement said: “The current stock of retail space in Dubai is currently just under three million sqm, with an additional 840,000 sqm set to be added by 2016.”

“This will be an outdoor walking strip. There is a need for more outdoor places,” Mr McLoughlin added.

Akoya Drive is expected to be completed in 2018.