Burj Dubai Tower

Jebel Ali free zone, making it possible.

1,510,000 inhabitants isn't enough to make up a metropolis so why not
put the other eight million or so on a plane and fly them down there?

Tourism is the keyword, 2003 Dubai had 2.8 million visitors, in the year of 2010 this number is expected to be well over ten million but how do you make that happen?

You do what they did in the Nevada desert in the 1960 th, you build attraction but in the case of Dubai gambling isn't in it's profile but Disneyland is however.

Burj Dubai is only a small part of what's beeing constructed in Dubai, the amusement park Dubai land will be twice the size of Walt Disney World in Florida and Dubai Mall the largest department store in the world of which both of them already are under construction.

So how do you finance all this? Oil? Well, that's one part of it, but
ever since oil was beeing found in 1966 the ruling Al Maktoum dynasty
has tried hard to limit the economy's dependense to it and today oil make up for less then 5% of the GDP. Clever. So if it's not oil, then what is it?

Containers, with it's strategic location Dubai port is the 12 th largest in the world and there to favour it is the Jebel Ali free zone, without it, no Burj Dubai.

Established in 1980 by Premier Minister and Vice President HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum the free zone ease for foreign corporations to settle and in only a few decades Dubai has become one of the most important business hubs in the middle east. Probably the most.

Today only 25% of Dubai's population are native Emiratis to compare with Hong Kongs 95% Cantonese population for example and few of them are likely to be able to afford one of the Dh 3.1 million condos in the Burj Dubai($9 million). However the demographics open up for a truly intriguing and hopefully prosperous future that no one could have expected few years back.

Burj Dubai Facts.

Architect: Adrian Smith (SOM).
Construction : 2004-30.12.2008
Construction Company: Samsung E&C.
Cost : $8 billion compared to Petronas Tower 1.6 billion back in 1998.
Design company: Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM).
Elevators : 66 double deckers moving at the speed of 18m/s (40mph), making it the worlds fastest.
Facade: Ferroconcrete, steel-frame.
Floors : 110*
Foundation: Concrete with 55 m(84 ft)tall piles attached into the ground.
Frame: Reflecting glazing to cool and save energy.
Gross Floor Space: 314,000 m² (3,378,137.6 sqft).
Height : 705 m (2,313 ft)*.
Observation deck: Indoor and outdoor at the 124 th floor, 34 floors abow the current leader Taipei 101.
Project size: 190 hectares including artificial lake and downtown Dubai.