The Dubai City tower is one of the latest proposed supertall skyscrapers slated for construction in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. News of the proposed tower began circulating over the internet in August, 2008. Meraas, which is a property developer as well as the private equity fund for Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai and the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, is said to be behind the project. The Dubai City Tower is conceived at 2.5 km or 1.5 miles high. If ever constructed, this supertall skyscraper would be three times taller than the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai..
This supertall skyscraper is depicted in the released plans as six different buildings that twist into a single core and topped with an energy-producing 400-meter spire. The Eiffel tower-inspired design has been envisioned to stabilize the structure and spread out its mass as well as to help cope with the tremendous wind forces that would be pushing on such a tall building. Dubai City Tower is comprised of 400 stories, with four sets of 100 stories each forming a neighborhood. A 125-mile per hour bullet train, acting as an elevator for the skyscraper, would transport people between sky plazas, separating each neighborhood.
Dubai City Tower will be equipped with wind turbines, solar panels, and biospheres that would also serve as water purification centers and parks. The tower will also feature commercial space, hotels and a wide array of other amenities, although it will be primarily a residential area within the Jumeirah Garden City project.
Developers and architects have not been named for the proposed Dubai City Tower project, and its exact location is not known. The illustrations released with the announcement do show a waterfront near a marina.
The potential impact the Dubai City Tower has is enormous. If ever constructed it would take three Burj Dubai’s stacked one on top of another plus Japan’s Tokyo Tower to come anywhere near the height of this proposed supertall skyscraper. Dubai City Tower would dwarf all the current tallest buildings in the world and would truly be a magnificent achievement in the history of development projects and skyscraper architecture. The project has also been dubbed Dubai Vertical City, and it truly would be a city within a city and defining landmark of Dubai, the Middle East, and the entire world.
The global financial crisis has resulted in a tightening of credit and lower oil prices. Many major construction projects in the United Arab Emirates and around the world have been put on hold or stalled, so it is uncertain what the exact future of the Dubai City Tower is. Many reports do note that they wouldn’t be surprised if Dubai pulls this off. With all the accomplishments in Dubai development projects in recent years, the project just might have a chance. The entrepreneurial spirit, ingenuity, capital from wealthy Middle Easterners, and desire for innovative residential and commercial opportunities is there. Time will tell whether the magnificent Dubai City Tower ever makes it off the ground.