Dubai to open world's tallest tower

Dubai to open world

Dubai is set to open the world's tallest building as the emirate tries to re-establish some of the optimism it experienced prior to its financial crisis.

The Burj Dubai, built by about 12,000 laborers and standing at a reported height of 818 meters, will open on Monday amid tight security.
The final height has remained a secret to be revealed at the opening, but it long ago overtook its nearest rival - the Taipei 101 in Taiwan which rises to only 508 meters.
Dubai, one of seven members of the United Arab Emirates, has gained a reputation for excess with the building of man-made islands shaped like palms and an indoor ski slope in the desert.
But the emirate suffered a real estate crash at the end of 2008 when the global financial crisis hit.
Investor confidence was badly dented again in November when the emirate's largest conglomerate announced it planned to delay debt repayments.
The Burj Dubai's opening on Monday is seen as a positive start to the year and analysts believe Dubai's financial troubles have not hurt sales of the approximately 1,100 residential units in the "super-scraper".
The Burj has been developed by Emaar Properties and is believed to have cost $1.5bn.
Bill Baker, the building's structural engineer, said Emaar kept pushing the design of the tapering metal-and-glass spire higher.
"We weren't sure how high we could go," said Baker, who works for Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
"It was kind of an exploration ... a learning experience."
At their peak, some apartments in the Burj were selling for more than $1,900 per square foot, though they now can go for less than half that, according to Heather Wipperman Amiji, chief executive of Dubai real estate consultancy Investment Boutique.
The Burj is the centerpiece of a more than two kilometers squared development that officials hope will become a new central residential and commercial district.
It is flanked by dozens of smaller but brand-new skyscrapers and the Middle East's largest shopping mall.
PHOTO CAPTION
The Burj Dubai Tower, the tallest tower in the world is seen in Dubai January 4, 2010.
Al-Jazeera

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