Dubai has one of the most recognisable skylines in the world, earning the Emirate city a reputation for pushing boundaries with its architecture. Having constructed the world's tallest building, a hotel shaped like a sail and a palm tree-shaped archipelago of luxurious properties, the city's most ambitious project to date has just been unveiled, drawing gasps of incredulity from the global real estate market.
Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed unveils the world's first climate-controlled city
Dubai has announced plans to construct the world's largest shopping mall, 'Mall of the World' within a 4.5 million m² climate-controlled 'city'.
Dubai Leads the World in Headline-Grabbing Architecture
The massive complex will feature the world's largest theme park, more than 100 hotels and apartments, a shopping area based on Oxford Street in London and a theatre district themed around New York's Broadway. All the facilities within the city will be linked with promenades stretching almost 8kms.
The 'Mall of the World', announced over the weekend is reminiscent of the mega projects that defined the Emirate state's accelerated development until the property market crashed spectacularly in 2009, resulting in many large-scale projects being scaled down or scrapped altogether.
The Mall of the World will make Dubai's skyline even more incredible
The Mall of the World, unveiled by Dubai's premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum is designed to help the city become a year-round destination that authorities hope will pull in 180 million visitors annually when completed.
Dubai's Authorities Expect 180 Million Visitors Annually
"We announced recently that we plan to transform Dubai into a cultural, tourist and economic hub for the two billion people living in the region around us; and we are determined to achieve our vision," said Sheikh Mohammed, also Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which includes Dubai.
"Our ambitions are higher than having seasonal tourism. Tourism is a key driver of our economy and we aim to make the UAE an attractive destination all year long. This is why we will start working on providing pleasant temperature-controlled environments during the summer months."
Climate-control will keep temperatures down during Dubai's summer months
"Growth in family and retail tourism underpins the need to enhance Dubai's tourism infrastructure as soon as possible," he added. "We are confident of our economy's strength, optimistic about our country's future and we continue to broaden our vision."
There are currently other architectural innovations underway in Dubai including an underwater hotel and a replica of India's Taj Mahal, identical apart from being four times the size of the original. The city is also home to the world's tallest building – the 829.8m Burg Khalifa and the world's biggest natural flower garden, containing over 45 million flowers.
- Tuesday 08 July 2014