Following on from a look at the development in Dubai over the last few years, (If you build it, they will come) here is a closer look at one of the major new developments currently underway. Construction of the Burj Dubai is now over halfway through construction and according to the official website, is currently over 574 meters tall, with 154 completed stories. Along the way, the builders have surpassed a number of previous records in their creation of the World’s tallest building:

February 2007
Burj Dubai surpasses the Sears Tower as the building with the most floors.
May 13, 2007
Burj Dubai sets record for vertical concrete pumping on any building at 452 m (1,483 ft), surpassing the 449.2 m (1,474 ft) to which concrete was pumped during the construction of Taipei 101.[7]
July 21, 2007
Burj Dubai becomes the tallest building on Earth surpassing Taipei 101 which stands at a height of 509.2 m (1,671 ft).The previous day, the head of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), Antony Wood, had confirmed that it “surpassed the height of Taipei 101 structurally (concrete).” However, he also added “We will not classify it as a building until it is complete, clad and at least partially open for business to avoid things like the Ryungyong [sic] project. Taipei 101 is thus officially the world’s tallest until that happens.”
August 12, 2007
Burj Dubai surpassed the height of the Sears’ Tower antenna which stands at a height of 527.3 m (1,730 ft).
September 03, 2007
Burj Dubai becomes the second-tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the 540 m (1,772 ft) Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia.

September 12, 2007
At 555.3 m (1,822 ft), Burj Dubai becomes the world’s tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

But, there are already plans and rumors afoot to exceed even this behemoth. The Murjan Tower in Bahrain is rumored to be 1,022 meters high with plans for it to contain the world’s largest shopping mall. No hard and fast plans have been seen as yet, but here is a look at the proposed “Al Burj” also in Dubai:

The Burj Dubai is being built largely with low paid immigrant labor from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China and the Philippines, and there have been press reports of workers being paid as little as $4 a day. Strike action and riots last year caused construction to be halted for a short time. It has to be said that they didn’t stint on their website though, and it’s one of the most professional looking websites I have ever seen.

Anyone remember this film? I seem to remember something about shoddy labor practices and corner-cutting.

Interesting links:

The official website

Skyscraper City

IMDB The Towering Inferno

The Guardian

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