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Dubai, emirate of extravagance and superlatives, laid claim to an extraordinary new record this week with a multibillion dollar plan to build the world's tallest tower in the face of deepening global financial gloom.
The tower, at the centre of the Nakheel port and harbour complex, is to be 'over one kilometre' high and have more than 200 floors, beating its nearest rival, the existing Burj Dubai tower, still under construction and due to rise to a mere 818 metres.
The latest first for this tiny Gulf state, the glitziest of the seven United Arab Emirates, will incorporate traditional Islamic styles for its extensive gardens, waterfront and bridges.
"It sends another message to the world that Dubai has a vision like no other place on Earth," said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World, the parent company of developer Nakheel.
"At more than a kilometre high this is an unbelievably groundbreaking design," boasted Chris O'Donnell, Nakheel's Australian CEO. "We are pushing the boundaries of sustainable design."
Analysts say this new project is dazzling evidence of Dubai's confidence in the face of the credit crunch and worries about global recession.
Its ruler, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, famous for breeding and racing thoroughbred horses and for his $18 billion fortune, gave it his blessing at a VIP launch.
The complex will provide homes and offices for 100,000 people. If all the reinforcing bars were laid end to end they would stretch from Dubai to New York - one quarter of the way round the world.
The tower will be so tall that it will have five different micro-climates.
The temperature in the atmosphere at the top of the building could be as much as 10 degrees cooler than at the bottom. High-speed lifts will allow people to see the sunset twice - from the bottom and again from the top of the building.
Pressed on the issue of height, O'Donnell said: "We are building a tower that's going to be over one kilometre. This is a complete iconic development. It may be the tallest. Someone may build something taller."
Developers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will doubtless take note.
The launch has left key questions unanswered, not least the cost of the project at a time of tightening credit, falling oil prices and stock markets and a sense that the Gulf is not immune to the effects of the world financial crisis.
Nakheel was keen to stress that the design includes Islamic elements inspired by the Alhambra in Spain, the harbour of Alexandria in Egypt, the promenade of Tangier in Morocco and the bridges of Isfahan in Iran.
The message that Dubai has a vision is not new. "We have been bombarded with the tallest, the best, the largest, for the past few years," sighed Prof Abdelkhaleq Abdullah of Emirates University. "The novelty has gone."
