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Towering over the world

FOR Dubai, the sky's the limit! It's official now — Burj Dubai has become the tallest building in the world surpassing such towering marvels as Taipei 101, Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Sears Tower in Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York.

The 141-storeyed building, the brightest jewel in the city skyline, is now a veritable global landmark, catapulting Dubai to the league of the world's premier cities. In fact, only a few cities in the world can match the breakneck pace of Dubai's development.

Over the past few years, the emirate has been consistently making significant progress in almost all spheres of life. Boasting a thriving economy, the emirate is poised to be one of the most spectacular leisure and tourism destinations in the world.

Burj Dubai, standing tall at 512.1 metres, will certainly be one of the pillars of the burgeoning tourism industry. It will be home to the world's first Giorgio Armani Hotel along with superlative residential and business complexes.

The building, which is the flagship among all the other mega-billion-dollar projects in downtown Dubai, is also an epitome of what human imagination can achieve. It became the world's tallest building in just 1,276 days, which is a feat unparalleled by any such endeavour in the past in any part of the globe.

And it's a tower of strength in every possible way. It has been designed to withstand wind and seismic movements. On its completion next year, it will excel in all the four criteria listed by the Council on tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

There have been intense speculations over the past few months on whether the developer will be able to attain its goal. There were reports on how the project had been hit by various kinds of technical snags.

Rumours spread that the project was off schedule. But the completion of the 141 storeys has put to rest all such speculations. The project is, in fact, ahead of its schedule.