Living in International City, Dubai (2026): transport, schools, homes and costs

Living in International City means a large, low-rise apartment community on the eastern edge of Dubai, with Dragon Mart next door and a Metro line on the way. This guide covers the day-to-day side of a move: transport, schools, healthcare, shops, home sizes and running costs. See all projects and prices on our International City page.

It is written for buyers who would live in the home themselves or want to understand what tenants will look for. It does not repeat the area's history; the area page covers that.

International City is in the Al Warsan district of eastern Dubai, just off Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311). Nakheel master-developed it, and the community began in 2004.

Its neighbours are Dubai Silicon Oasis to the south, Ras Al Khor and its wildlife sanctuary to the west, and Al Warqa'a and Mirdif to the north. Dubai Academic City is a short drive south-east.

The original community is laid out as ten clusters named after countries: England, the Emirates, Russia, Italy, Spain, France, Persia, Greece, Morocco and China. Each cluster's buildings echo the architecture of its namesake, and the clusters surround a central business district. Later phases, International City Phase 2 and Phase 3, extend into the neighbouring Al Warsan sectors, and much of the new off-plan building is there.

The straight-line figures above are a fair way to compare places, but you drive on roads. In light traffic, the drive is about 18 minutes to DXB airport, about 19 minutes to Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro station and about 22 minutes to Downtown Dubai. Dragon Mart is about 10 minutes away and Dubai Safari Park about 13 minutes. Peak-hour journeys take longer, so test your own commute at the time you would make it.

Yes. International City is sold freehold to foreign buyers, and you do not need to live in the UAE to buy there. You can buy off-plan with a passport and register the purchase with the Dubai Land Department.

Dubai's freehold areas are set out in Regulation No. 3 of 2006 by official land-area names and plot numbers, not by community names. So, as anywhere, check the tenure of your specific unit on the Oqood registration or title deed. Our guide to whether foreigners can buy property in the UAE explains how the freehold areas work.

Today International City runs on cars, taxis and RTA buses. The Dubai Metro Blue Line, due on 9 September 2029, will add two stations in the community and change how it connects to the rest of the city.

By road. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311) runs along the community's edge and is the main route north towards Sharjah and south towards Jebel Ali. Other main roads lead west towards Ras Al Khor and the city centre. Most residents who work in Downtown, Business Bay or DIFC drive or take a taxi.

By bus. The RTA bus route list includes several routes that start or end at International City Bus Station:

• X23 to Al Ghubaiba Bus Station in Bur Dubai, an express route.
• 50 to Business Bay Bus Station.
• 53 to Gold Souq Bus Station in Deira.
• 55 to Al Satwa Bus Station.
• 310 to Al Rashidiya Bus Station.
• N30, a night route, to Airport Terminal 2.
• 20A and 20B between Al Warsan 3 and Al Nahda 1.

Buses are cheap and cover the main destinations, but a bus commute to the centre involves a change or a long ride. If you will not drive, map your route from the cluster you are considering, not just from the bus station.

What will the Blue Line change?

The Blue Line is a 30 km, 14-station Metro line, with 15.5 km underground. It has two routes that meet at International City 1:

• Route 1, 21 km with 10 stations, runs from Creek Interchange on the Green Line in Al Jaddaf through Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour and Ras Al Khor to International City 1. It then continues to International City 2 and 3, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Dubai Academic City.
• Route 2, 9 km with four stations, runs from Centrepoint Interchange on the Red Line in Al Rashidiya through Mirdif and Al Warqa'a to International City 1.

International City 1 will be the largest underground interchange in the Metro network, at more than 44,000 square metres, with an estimated capacity of about 350,000 riders a day. Tunnelling began there in May 2026, with machines heading towards Mirdif, the Auto Market and Al Warsan.

What it means for a buyer. From late 2029 you should be able to reach the Red Line at Centrepoint and the Green Line at Creek without a car. Until then, the Metro is a plan, not a commute. If you are buying off-plan, compare the project's handover date with the Metro's opening date, and ask the developer how far the building is from the nearest station entrance.

There are no large school campuses inside International City itself. Families use schools in nearby districts, chiefly Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Academic City, Al Warqa'a and Nad Al Sheba, most of them a short drive away.

Private schools in Dubai are regulated and inspected by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Its online schools directory lists each school's curriculum, location and latest inspection rating, and links to the full inspection report.

Schools that families in International City commonly consider include:

• GEMS Wellington Academy – Silicon Oasis, a British-curriculum school in Dubai Silicon Oasis.
• Dubai English Speaking College, a British-curriculum secondary school in Dubai Academic City.
• GEMS Our Own High School – Al Warqa'a, an Indian-curriculum school in Al Warqa'a.
• Kings' School Nad Al Sheba, a British-curriculum school in Nad Al Sheba.

Treat this as a starting list, not a ranking. Before you commit to a home for a school, check four things: the latest KHDA rating, the fees for your child's year group, whether there is a place, and whether the school bus serves your cluster. Our guide to off-plan family communities and schools in Dubai explains how to read KHDA ratings.

Day-to-day healthcare is close by: clinics and pharmacies operate in the ground-floor retail units of the clusters. Government primary care is a short drive away, and hospitals are elsewhere in the city.

Dubai Health runs a network of ambulatory health centres. The nearest to International City are the Nad Al Hamar Health Center in Nad Al Hamar and the Al Mizhar Health Center in Al Mizhar 1. Which one you use depends on where your cluster is and on your health insurance.

For hospital care, check the drive time from your building to the hospitals your insurer covers, including the nearest emergency department. Do this before you buy, especially if you have young children or older relatives living with you.

Shopping is International City's strongest day-to-day point. The community sits beside Dragon Mart and Dragon Mart 2, the large malls known for wholesale and household goods, which also have supermarkets, restaurants and services.

Within the clusters, the ground floors of the buildings hold supermarkets, cafés, restaurants and small shops, so most errands are on foot. The community has mosques, parks and green spaces, basketball courts, children's play areas and a lake in the Lake District, and recycling stations around the clusters.

Daily life is busy and practical rather than resort-like. Expect low-rise buildings close together and a large, international population. The newer buildings in the later phases add their own pools, gyms and play areas inside the development. Check what your building has, because amenities differ widely from one project to the next.

International City is an apartment community. There are no villas or townhouses.

The original clusters. Nakheel's International City has more than 22,000 homes, mostly studios and one-bedroom apartments, with some two-bedroom units. Nakheel's leasing page lists its smallest unit at about 430 sq ft.

New off-plan projects. New buildings in International City and the Al Warsan phases offer studios to three-bedroom homes, often with more amenities than the older blocks. In the International City projects we track that publish unit sizes, internal areas run:

Two homes of the same type can differ by a third or more in size. Compare price per square foot and the floor plan, not just the bedroom count. If you are weighing International City against other low-priced areas, our guide to the cheapest off-plan apartments in Dubai compares studios and one-bedroom homes across the city.

Service charges are set building by building, not for International City as a whole. The approved rate for a completed building is published on the Dubai Land Department's Service Charge Index.

How they work in Dubai:

• Your share is your unit's area as a share of the building's total area, under Article 25 of Law No. 6 of 2019 on jointly owned property.
• The budget needs approval. A management company may only collect charges that RERA has approved, after an audit.
• You pay through Mollak, the Dubai Land Department's service charge system, into a dedicated account for the building.
• Master community charges may be added for shared community facilities and are listed separately.

How to check a rate. On the Dubai Land Department website or the Dubai REST app, open the Service Charge Index, choose the project name, the property use and the year, and the approved rate per square foot is shown. Do this for any resale or completed building you are comparing.

Off-plan buildings. A new building has no approved budget until it completes, so the figure quoted at sale is an estimate. Ask the developer for the estimated rate in writing and treat it as a guide. Our guide to the true cost of buying off-plan in Dubai shows how service charges fit into annual running costs.

International City has some of the lowest rents for new tenants in Dubai, which is one reason it suits people starting out in the city. Nakheel, which owns and lets many of the original buildings, lists studios in its own International City buildings from AED 28,500 a year in November 2026, before fees, for units from about 430 sq ft.

Rents in privately owned buildings and in new projects differ with the cluster, the building's age, the floor and the amenities. For a specific building, the Dubai Land Department's rental index gives a reference rent, and it is the benchmark used when a landlord proposes a rent increase on renewal. If you will let the home out, our guide to rental yields by Dubai area explains how to judge rental demand.

International City suits buyers and residents who put price and an eastern location first, and are content with apartment living. It suits less well those whose priorities are space, the beach or schools on the doorstep.

New projects in International City and the Al Warsan phases range from upcoming launches to buildings near completion. The table below is built from our project data and updates as we add or revise projects.

Two examples show the range. Nest Residence by Andi Properties offers studios to three-bedroom homes with a stated handover in the fourth quarter of 2026, and Listone Residence offers studios to two-bedroom homes plus a study with a stated handover in the third quarter of 2028. Aldar Warsan Residences is planned for International City Phase 2. For budgets across Dubai, see projects under AED 1 million and our apartments page.

Use this list on any International City home, new or resale:

1. The cluster or phase. The original clusters, Phase 2 and Phase 3 and the Al Warsan sectors feel different. Visit at the time of day you would come home.
2. The walk to the Blue Line. For an off-plan home, ask how far the building is from International City 1 or International City 2 & 3, and compare the handover date with the 2029 opening.
3. Parking. Confirm whether the unit has an allocated bay, and how many.
4. The service charge. Look up the approved rate on the Service Charge Index for a completed building, or get the estimate in writing for an off-plan one.
5. Cooling. Ask whether the building uses district cooling or its own air conditioning, and how cooling is billed.
6. The school run. Check the KHDA rating, fees and bus route for the schools you are considering.
7. The payment plan. Check how much is due before handover and whether you will need a mortgage at completion. Our guide to off-plan payment plans in the UAE compares the structures.
8. The developer and escrow. Confirm the project is registered with the Dubai Land Department and that you pay into its escrow account. Our guide to checking an off-plan project and developer shows how.

For the whole buying process, from reservation to keys, see our step-by-step guide to buying off-plan property in Dubai.

If International City fits your budget and your commute, start with the project table above and the International City page, then compare it with other areas in our guide to Dubai's areas and districts. If you would like a shortlist of buildings near the future Blue Line stations, ask us and we will send one.