j a m s h a i d’s blog

There’s more than one Dubai drama playing out on the world stage these days. Besides the fracas over whether U.S. ports should be overseen by Dubai Ports World (see BW Online, 3/6/06, “The Real Shipping News”) the emirate is gaining widespread attention and generating buzz in architecture, design, and real-estate circles. Dubai, one of the seven United Arab Emirates, is engaged in a building boom of epic proportions.

By the beginning of the next decade, relatively tiny Dubai — it’s smaller than Canada’s Prince Edward Island, and has a population of about 1.4 million citizens — will be home to an astonishing number of superlative architectural projects. These include Earth’s tallest skyscraper, the first luxury underwater hotel, and a man-made archipelago of private, residential islands (yes, the biggest development of its kind) that will resemble a map of the world when seen from above.

Most of Dubai’s ambitious building projects are in planning or early construction stages. The emirate’s current skyline is dotted with cranes. According to the most recent study published by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Dubai’s construction and building sector contributes 12.2% of the emirate’s non-oil GDP and has grown annually at an average rate of 27%.

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Source: Business Week