As we all know, Dubai has been transformed into a real wonder of the World. Our generation has a unique opportunity to witness how an empty desert can be transformed into one of the planets most interesting cities, attracting millions of tourists each year.
Yeah, it’s true that Dubai has oil reserves, that greatly affected its economic development. Good thing that Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, realized that these reserves will run out some day, so he decided the city needs a “back up” plan. So the great construction commenced.
It was a brilliant idea, since today Dubai’s gross domestic product is calculated to be some $107.1 billion! And the revenues from oil and natural gas constitute less than 5% of the emirate’s total revenues. Dubai spent enormous amount of money and resources in order to obtain the most jaw-dropping skyline in the world.
Since 2000, the emirate dropped more than $600 billion into constructing the World’s tallest tower, the largest artificial island and the most luxurious hotel in the world, among other architectural wonders, showed below.
The Burj Al Arab is claimed to be “the world’s only 7-star hotel”.
Being the fourth-tallest hotel in the world (height of 210 m (689 ft) above ground), The Burj Al Arab is pushed for 280 meters away from the shoreline, so it doesn’t cast a shadow on the beaches nearby.
This is how the self-proclaimed “world’s most luxurious hotel” looks at night.
One of the coolest features of The Burj Al Arab is it’s helipad, which can be transformed into a tennis court that hangs off the side of the hotel. Nothing can beat a tennis game at an altitude of 200 meters above the sea level. Literally above the sea level. Breathtaking! The only problem is that getting the lost tennis balls back may take you a while.
The Palms. Another man-made masterpiece. Three islands were built to serve as a ground for luxury hotels and premium real-estate.
The smallest island, the Palm Island Jumeirah, was inaugurated in 2007.
It took 4 years, 6 million kg of rock and 26 million kg of sand to finish the islands.
The Palms add a total of 520 kilometres of non-public beaches to the city of Dubai.
Probably the most famous Dubai’s landmark is Burj Khalifa, the tallest man-made structure in the world. With a height of 829.8 m, this is the highest skyscraper that has been ever built.
It took just 1325 days to complete the tower and it required nearly 12000 workers on-site on any given day. More than 30 000 tons of rebar were used for the Burj Khalifa’s construction. If you layed all these steel bars end to end, you’d have the length that equals a quarter of the way around the world.
No wonder that Dubai with all its huge skyscrapers and spectacular architecture attracts lovers of extreme tourism. For example those, who like to take photos from the spires of the skyscrapers.
