Thursday, October 16, 2008

City within a city

Source : Straits Times - 7 Oct 2008

A DUBAI government firm yesterday announced it will build a ‘new city’ in the Gulf emirate at a projected cost of US$95 billion (S$137 billion), shrugging off the global financial turmoil.

The mixed-use Jumeirah Gardens development will be ‘an integrated city within a city’, to be built over 12 years, Meraas Development said at the opening of Cityscape 2008, a four-day international real estate exhibition.

The announcement came one day after Dubai developers Nakheel said it planned to build the world’s tallest tower, which could stand 1km tall, beating its nearest rival, the Burj Dubai tower, still under construction and due to rise to a mere 818m, the Guardian said.

Nakheel said the 200-floor structure would be the centrepiece of an inner-city harbour planned as the emirate’s unofficial capital.

Taipei 101 Tower in Taipei, Taiwan, is currently the world’s tallest skyscraper at 509m high.

Foundation work for the Nakheel tower has already begun.

Chief executive Chris O’Donnell said he was confident Nakheel could pay for the project despite the global financial troubles. ‘There might be a slowdown, but there definitely won’t be a crash.’


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