London’s new tallest Shard tower topped by 18 skyscrapers in Dubai
Posted on 06 December 2010 with 9 comments from readers
Londoners have a new tallest building emerging on the south bank of the Thames, the 310-metre high Shard being built mainly with Qatari money. But Dubai presently has 18 towers higher than the Shard, and has more super-tall buildings than any city in the world, including New York and Hong Kong.
This is the remarkable physical infrastructure legacy of the boom of the 2000s. Most visible is clearly the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building that is almost taller than three Shards stacked one on top of another.
Tallest hotel in the world
The second tallest building in Dubai is the recently topped out 77-storey twin towers Emirates Park Towers Hotel & Spa at 376 metres currently the 16th-tallest building and 17th-tallest building in the world while the fourth tallest building is the 68-storey, 363-metre Almas Tower, completed in late 2009.
The fifth tallest completed building in Dubai is the Emirates Office Tower, which rises 54 stories and 355 metres presently the 22nd-tallest building in the world. There is also the Rose Tower, the tallest all-hotel building in the world and HHHR Tower, Ocean Heights are the second and third tallest residential buildings in the world respectively.
However, that is not the end of the story. ArabianMoney can count at least another six super tall buildings that are now close to topping out. At the northern end of the Dubai Marina is the 414-metre Princess and 380-metre Elite residences and the 412-metre Marina 101, as well as the 345-metre Marina Torch and 330-metre Infinity Tower.
Then there is the now topped out, 330-metre high Al Yaqoub Tower on the Sheikh Zayed Road that is a recreation of London’s Big Ben clock tower, only much taller.
Now the obvious question is who is going to live and work in all these buildings. ‘The empty buildings will fill up’ says an optimistic ‘Dr. Doom’ Marc Faber. He is right.
Filling the space
There is no precedent in the history of the world for a city building loads of skyscrapers and then them standing empty for all time. Of course, the question then is how much time. Two years? Three? Five or 10 years?
The answer is as long as a piece of string. We just do not know. It depends on the world economy. It depends on the regional economy with Dubai clearly the hub city of the region. Abu Dhabi by contrast does not have a single super tall building, let alone a port comparable to Jebel Ali or a financial centre.
But while London points to the Shard as a sign that developers are once more confident about the future, Dubai should also be taking a similar pride in its much taller achievements.
9 Comments posted by readers:
I like Marc Faber and most of the time his advice is correct. My guess is that he’s got it wrong about Dubai.
In the real world businesses build skyscrapers not governments.
Sadly ‘if you build it they will come’ only works in movies. Those buildings will be dust before they are ever occupied.
Yes, yes,.. but who wants to live in Dubai? It takes generations to grow middle-classes that truely appreciate home grown talent. One can’t just buy it in!
Dream on Dubai and live with morons like the Beckhams.
Ed Note: well about 1.5m do want to live in Dubai and incomes here create an instant middle class.
1.5 million what? Indians. Last I checked there were 300,000 emiratis and about 150,000 non-indian/asian expats, and dropping by the day.
Ed Note: Indians are human beings, your discrimination is disgraceful.
MY DISCRIMINATION?
There are hundreds of thousands of poor Indians working in horrid conditions in the UAE who would much rather be back in their own country. Many aren’t even making money thanks to the tricks UAE labor/construction employers play on them regarding visa fees and the like. The UAE is on every human rights watchlist in the world due to this. And you say I am discriminatory…
My point, which you missed, was double. First, it was regarding your claim that 1.5 million people ‘want’ to be in the UAE. I’d say that 9/10 Indian laborers would much rather be back in india full stop no conditions rather than the human rights nightmare they live in right now. Secondly,do you expect these laborers, whose monthly pay is less than the daily wage of many civilized countries, to purchase the vast number of apartments built and fill the ‘really high buildings’ built by the government.
The truth is, the UAE government is a propaganda machine and always has been. Their constant claims of huge population increases over the last decade was mainly due to the influx of laborers working for nearly no salary on government funded projects with no real-world demand or use. Now, with the construction industry and Dubai economy exposed as rubbish there has been a drastic decrease in the number of laborers in the country, yet of course the population numbers from the government magically continue to rise!
Ed Note: How poorly you understand the UAE. Many long-term Indian residents are highly educated and form the middle class of the country. Many construction workers have gone back to their own country and probably earn more in booming India now. The UAE is a uniquely successful example of Third World development and for some reason many Westerners resent that fact. Of course there has been exploitation of labour but then that is how all countries have developed over time. Having 40 odd million living on food stamps in the richest nation on earth is not such a magnificent achievement today, but hey they all have rights even if they do not have jobs.
Tom, I live in Dubai and I find your observations & comments very accurate. The problem is, as you can see from the editor, that any opinion or observation that fails to blow smoke up our hosts already smoke-filled behinds, is considered to be discrimination or even racist! As soon as you form honest & accurate opinions you’re told to go straight to the airport and leave! I live here because the weather is superb for 8 months of the year and employer’s cover many of your typical expenses – rent, school fees, energy costs etc… Outside of these advantages, I consider the place a basket case. The resident demographics are moving more & more towards Asian domination which is hardly surprising. My guess is that within the next 25 years, westerners will be a small minority here in Dubai. The oncoming global meltdown will hit this tiny emirate very hard and will keep these ridiculous towers empty for decades. Don’t invest here, it’s a money pit!
Ed Note: Well we will publish this despite its dubious logic. Why would the author still be working in Dubai if it was a basket case? The basket cases are often the home countries of Dubai residents. It is indeed a money pit. There is a great deal of money in the Persian Gulf, and anybody who does not think so can go home: $88 a barrel and going higher…
There’s the “go home” comment again!! Claptrap & more claptrap….. The money comes out of the ground, hangs around for a while and then goe’s straight back!! What home countries of Dubai residents do you have in mind? Please respond… I could use a good laugh this morning.
Ed Note: Well you could hardly argue that the outlook in the UK is looking good for the next few years. The UK has the highest total debt of any nation at 466% of GDP and rising – have a look at the article on this website tomorrow. Not sure whether to laugh or cry…
Its funny to read people in London talking about Indians in Dubai as I can tell you first hand that Indian immigrants are destroying middle class incomes in the UK and also destroying Englands culture. Pretty much wherever Indian workers go in mass the only benificiaries are the businesses hiring them often via false visa’s and the like.
IMHO any country that experiences massive Asian immigration will be heading for a fall in overall standards of living.
For information, the official name is now : SHARD TOWER .