There’s a quiet lifestyle rebellion taking shape in the world’s busiest cities – and it has nothing to do with slowing the pace of business, but everything to do with slowing the pace of life. A generation raised on hustle culture – the late nights, the side gigs, the packed weekends worn as a badge of honour – is now actively redefining what success looks like.

Recent research suggests this shift is more than a passing lifestyle trend. Deloitte’s 2025 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey, which surveyed more than 23,000 people across 44 countries, found that only 6 per cent of Gen Z respondents see reaching senior leadership as their primary career goal. Instead, younger generations are increasingly prioritising work-life balance, meaningful work and personal wellbeing over traditional measures of career success.

What began as a response to burnout is now influencing how people choose to live, work and, increasingly, where they want to call home.

Slow living rejects speed as the measure of a life well lived. It asks not how much was achieved by Friday, but how much of the week actually felt like it belonged to the person living it. For a generation that watched its parents equate exhaustion with achievement, that is a significant redefinition of success.

For cities, this shift reaches far beyond individual routines. Urban environments have long been designed around acceleration – faster commutes, faster transactions and faster access to everything. Slow living pushes against that logic without rejecting the city itself, asking planners to balance two competing priorities: the pace required to drive economic growth, and the pace required for people to live well within it.

The implications extend well beyond the workplace. Employers are increasingly responding with flexible working, shorter work weeks and expanded mental health support, yet the built environment has been slower to evolve. Homes and neighbourhoods are still largely designed around assumptions from a decade ago, when proximity to the office and the mall mattered more than almost anything else.

Today, those priorities are shifting as a generation has learned, often the hard way, that being close to everything can also mean being far from the spaces that help them recharge.

This is where developers have real work to do. It is no longer enough to add a gym and market a building as wellness-oriented. The shift requires more fundamental design choices: greater access to green space, walkable neighbourhoods, shaded public areas, lower-density planning and communal spaces that encourage people to spend time rather than simply pass through.

Dubai might seem an unlikely stage for this shift – a city built on speed of construction, ambition and opportunity. Yet it is precisely this intensity that has created an appetite for its opposite: stillness. As hybrid working becomes more common and wellbeing takes on greater importance, buyers are asking a different question: not simply how close they are to the centre of the action, but how far they are from the noise.

Developers across the region are beginning to respond. From waterfront masterplans and lower-density communities to walkable neighbourhoods, integrated green spaces and wellness-focused amenities, the emphasis is gradually shifting from simply maximising land use to improving quality of life.

Tomorrow 166 and other planned projects on Dubai Islands reflect this broader philosophy, prioritising public space, lower-rise living and communal design that encourages residents to slow the pace of everyday life. The wider lesson is that thoughtful urban design at street level matters just as much as the homes themselves.

Intentional living should not be mistaken for slow growth. Developers who recognise this shift early – designing for wellbeing as well as efficiency – will help shape the next generation of urban communities.

Cities will always move fast; this is part of what makes them dynamic. But the homes within them do not have to move at the same speed. In the years ahead, the most successful developments may not be those that help people move faster, but those that give them permission to slow down.

• Xu Ma is the Founder and Chairman of Tomorrow World Real Estate

US President Donald Trump promised “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint.

Fears that disruption could widen to block another sea route sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war. Brent crude rose more than 6 per cent, piercing the level of $100 a barrel for the first time since May.

Two weeks since the effective collapse of an interim truce meant to end the war, the US military launched air strikes on Iran late on Thursday and early on Friday, for a 13th consecutive night of attacks, prompting Iran to fire at neighbouring Arab countries that host U.S. bases.

On both Thursday and Friday nights, Iranian state media said missiles struck Qeshm Island on the Strait of Hormuz, the virtually closed waterway that is the focus of a war well into its fifth month that has killed thousands and fanned fears of a global economic downturn.

Four people were killed and five injured in a US missile attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, state broadcaster IRIB said.

‘Gate of Tears’

After the Houthis said they had struck the two tankers on Thursday, Trump said he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters.

The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, said they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” Trump wrote on social media.

He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations in Iran and was close to a decision.

“They haven’t received enough pain yet,” the news outlet quoted Trump as saying.

On social media, Trump said “any and all damages done” to cargo ships would be paid for with “Iranian Money,” referring to frozen Iranian assets held by the United States, but without saying how.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi responded with a warning on X, saying, “Seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent.”

No one’s assets were safe once governments normalised such confiscation, he added on Friday. “Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”

Sources in Iran and Yemen told Reuters that Iran had flown Revolutionary Guard commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen days before the Houthis announced their blockade. The Houthis dismissed the report.

The Houthis said their forces had carried out missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla.

A maritime security source said the Encelia sent a distress call that it had been struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan in the Red Sea just north of Yemen on Wednesday. Saudi state news agency SPA said the strike caused a fire at the bow.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the attack on the Layla, or other battlefield accounts, but Trump mentioned two attacks on Saudi tankers.

Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, after the reported attacks, sources said.

Houthi attacks could close the strait known as the Bab el-Mandeb or “Gate of Tears” which controls access from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, the second most important route for energy shipments after the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.

In the days since they unveiled their blockade in the Red Sea, several tankers have changed course to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb.

Instead, they have headed north through the Suez Canal, potentially using a much longer and more expensive route to reach Asian customers by sailing around Africa.

The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, its lowest since May 7, shiptracking data showed.

Iran reports strikes on Jordan, Kuwait

Iran said it attacked US missile systems, weapons and fuel storage sites in Jordan, as well as US military posts in Kuwait.

Jordan’s army said it engaged four Iranian missiles and six drones in the past day, intercepting all but one missile, which fell in an uninhabited area.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a U.S. electronic warfare unit at Al-Adiri base in Kuwait, causing unspecified casualties, in response to an overnight strike on Iran’s Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq.

Neither the United States nor Kuwait has reported casualties at the base.

Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would keep retaliating as long as the US continued to attack its infrastructure and coastal areas, Iranian state TV reported.

US President Donald Trump has said a proposed civil nuclear cooperation agreement between Washington and Saudi Arabia will only move forward if the kingdom joins the Abraham Accords, linking the long-discussed energy partnership directly to a broader regional normalisation framework.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said the agreement between the US Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia would be limited to civilian applications and would not permit uranium enrichment.

“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) being made between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote.

He added: “The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”

The comments introduce a new political condition to a deal that the two countries announced a day earlier. The agreement is intended to establish a framework for long-term civilian nuclear cooperation, supporting Saudi Arabia’s plans to diversify its energy mix and develop a domestic nuclear power sector using US technology.

Global event specialist Arena, a Modon company, is celebrating one of the biggest moments in world golf after brand ambassador Ryan Fox claimed his maiden major title by winning The Open Championship over the weekend.

Arena has partnered with the New Zealander since 2023, supporting him through the most successful period of his career. The partnership, the company says, is built on a shared commitment to excellence, resilience and delivering under pressure—qualities that were on full display as Fox held his nerve to lift the Claret Jug.

“Winning The Open is one of the greatest achievements in sport, and everyone at Arena is immensely proud to see Ryan achieve something so special,” said Paul Berger, group CEO of Arena.

“We’ve had the privilege of working alongside Ryan long enough to know that this success hasn’t come by chance. It is the product of relentless commitment and an unwavering desire to improve—qualities that resonate deeply with our own business. Across Arena, excellence is expected every single day, and Ryan approaches his profession with the same mindset, which is why this partnership has always felt so natural.”

Berger added: “To see him crowned Open Champion is a fantastic moment, not only for Ryan and his team, but for everyone who has followed his journey. We couldn’t be happier for him and we’re excited to continue supporting him as the next chapter of his remarkable career unfolds.”

Arena has been an integral component of a number of high profile and diverse sporting events, including services and infrastructure support provided to the 2024 Paris Olympics Games, Formula1 races in Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Vegas, Miami and Austin, Wimbledon and the annual Cinch Championships at Queen’s Club in London as well as setting up a modular cricket stadium for the T20 World Cup in New York.

An exclusive interview with Ryan Fox

Gulf Business caught up with Fox following his Open Championship victory.

For Fox, the achievement is still difficult to comprehend.

“It feels amazing. I’m still not sure it’s real, to be honest. Even though that Claret Jug sitting behind me is definitely real,” he tells Gulf Business.

“It’s going to take a while to sink in, but I’m incredibly proud of the achievement. I’m also incredibly proud of how it happened and how I controlled myself. I’d never been in that situation before. I didn’t know if I had it in me, and it’s kind of cool to find out I did.”

The defining challenge wasn’t the drive down the 18th fairway but standing over the putt that would win one of golf’s most prestigious championships.

“There was a point where it kind of hit me: I’ve got a putt to win The Open. That was overwhelming,” he says.

Rather than allowing the moment to consume him, Fox focused on what he could control—his breathing, his routine and his commitment to the stroke.

The putt disappeared into the hole, triggering an emotional release after four days of relentless pressure.

“I let everything out. It was the greatest feeling in the world,” he says. “Three seconds after that, I was like a deer in the headlights, not knowing what to do.”

Winning a major changes far more than a golfer’s record books. It also reshapes their commercial profile, opening new sponsorship opportunities, partnerships and global recognition.

Fox expects life to become considerably busier.

“It’s going to make my agents a lot busier,” he says with a smile.

“Being a major champion—and that still sounds weird to say—obviously opens a lot more doors and a lot more opportunities. There’ll be more partnerships and activations from current partners, and there’s a lot coming that I probably don’t even have the slightest clue what it will be, but I’m looking forward to what it brings, both from a golf sense and a business sense.”

He is equally realistic about the increased scrutiny that comes with success.

“I’ve achieved a dream. If you’re not prepared to put up with what comes with that dream, then it probably shouldn’t have been a dream in the first place,” he says. “Whatever comes with it—whether it’s opportunity, scrutiny or pressure on my time—I wanted this to happen, and I want to enjoy what’s coming as much as possible.”

Having spent much of his career on the DP World Tour, Fox has also witnessed the Middle East emerge as one of golf’s most influential regions.

“The Middle East has been a huge player in golf since I made it on the DP World Tour,” he says. “The DP World Tour Championship in Dubai is a huge deal, and with everything Saudi Arabia has done in golf, the region has had a huge impact on the game. The Middle East is a big player in golf, and I think it will be for years to come.”

Among his favourite venues are Yas Links, Emirates Golf Club and Abu Dhabi Golf Club—courses he believes reflect the region’s ambition to deliver world-class sporting experiences.

Away from the fairways, Fox believes the same principles that underpin elite sport also define successful business relationships.

“I’ve just tried to be me,” he says. “I’ve had some great sponsors and partners over the years and ended up having personal relationships with a lot of the people involved. You don’t have to be arrogant, cocky or difficult to be successful. You can still be competitive, but you can also be a good person.”

It’s a philosophy rooted in his New Zealand upbringing and one that has helped shape both his sporting career and his commercial partnerships.

Now, as Champion Golfer of the Year, Fox enters the next phase of his career with a major title, a growing global profile and the backing of partners who have supported his journey long before the Claret Jug became part of the picture.