1 BURJ DUBAI
Burj Dubai, the Dubai Tower, is already the tallest building in the world. Its final height is still a secret but it will eventually rise over 800m and will, for a while, be the tallest structure in the world. It is just one of developer Emaar’s ten residential and commercial projects that will make up a new Downtown Burj Dubai business district, including the Old Town and the world’s largest shopping mall.
Completion: This year
2 ATLANTIS, THE PALM DUBAI
The Palm Jumeirah is the first of three reclaimed ‘palms’ adding hundreds of kilometres of beaches and waterfront real estate to Dubai’s short coastline. More than 30 hotels with 15,000 rooms are being built on the Palm Jumeirah. The flagship resort is the 1,539-room Atlantis, with 5,400 sqm of meeting space. Set in 46 hectares on the ‘trunk’, Atlantis is home to Aquaventure, a water theme park spread over 17 hectares both under and above the water.
Opening: Autumn this year
3 DUBAILAND
The world’s largest tourism and leisure project, Dubailand is spread across 280 sq km of desert and includes more than 45 megaprojects.
Developments such as Dubai Lifestyle City plus Golf, Motor, Sports, Outlet and Falcon Cities will be found here. Theme parks include an outdoor air-conditioned Universal Studios and a 47-hectare DreamWorks Animation theme park.
Completion: In stages from this year until 2020
4 DUBAI SPORTS CITY
Expect to see more worldclass sports events in Dubai when Dubai Sports City opens. Facilities include: a cricket stadium for 25,000 people; a 60,000-seat multipurpose outdoor stadium for rugby, football and athletics; a 5,000-capacity hockey venue; an indoor stadium with seating for 10,000 people; an Olympic-size pool; and world-class sports academies.
Completion: This year
5 DUBAI SKI DOME
Taking indoor ski slopes to a new level, the world’s largest indoor ski dome is a self-contained winter environment inside a 75-metre-high dome that covers 130,000 sqm and includes shops and restaurants as well as ice slides, polar bears and penguins. A luxury iceberg-shaped
hotel will flank the dome.
Completion: Late this year
6 GREAT DUBAI WHEEL
The 185-metre-high Dubai Great Wheel will be the world’s biggest observation wheel, taller than the Singapore Flyer and the London Eye. When the dust clears, visitors should be able to see distances of up to 50km from the wheel’s 30 capsules.
Completion: Next year
7 AQUA DUNYA
Managed by Jumeirah, Aqua Dunya is a 72-hectare theme park with the Jumeirah Desert Pearl Hotel as the centrepiece. Arabian seafaring tradition is the theme here, so included is a huge ship, a traditional Arabian souk, port, 36 wet and dry themed rides and adventure islands, plus a conference centre, in the first phase of development.
Completion: Next year
8 BAWADI
A ten-kilometre-long boulevard of themed hotels, Bawadi will add 51 hotels and more than 60,000 rooms to Dubai’s inventory by 2014. The flagship property will be the 6,500-room Asia-Asia – the world’s biggest hotel – plus convention hotels and exhibition space.
Completion: To be finished in stages between 2010 and 2014
