The Nakheel Tower - Dubai's Final Frontier

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The $4.1billion Burj Dubai tower is due to be occupied by September of this year, at that point it will comprise 30,000 homes, 9 luxury hotels, 7.4 acres of parkland and a 30-acre lake. It will also be the tallest structure of any kind ever built. However, Samsung, Besix and Arabtex (the three primary builders) will keep their crown for only the briefest of terms if Nakheel properties succeed in their plans. Fresh from carving "The Palm Islands", "The World" and "The Universe" from the sands of Dubai for the benefit of the lucrative luxury holidays industry, they plan to construct their own tower that will stand at 1,400m and at its base boast the world's only inner-city harbour. Such projects aren't unique in their ambition, their peers include Tapei 101 in Taiwan, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia and the Shanghai World Financial Centre, yet they are reaching further than has ever been previously conceived.

To put things in perspective: a cloud is classified as "low" until it reaches 2,000m at which point it is upgraded to "Mid-Level", Sagarmatha (also known as Everest) reaches 8,848m at its peak, and it's not until reaching 100,000m that one would hit the Karman line and leave the Earth's atmosphere for Outer Space. Of course, none of these places are good choices for luxury holidays, and certainly none of them boast a range of luxury hotels. This seems to be the advantage that projects such as the Burj Dubai and the Nakheel tower can call upon. Though they've yet to break the kilometre high mark, they're considerably more lavish than Everest Base Camp.

The idea of such sky-scraping towers stands without precedent in recorded history. The Colossus of Rhodes stood only 30m high (despite its reputation), the Great Pyramid of Giza stands at a mere 146m, even the famous Empire State in New York touches a bare 381m. Of course, the Tower of Babel was claimed to be between 2,500m and 7,300m tall, though accounts vary. Disappointed as they may be by this revelation, Nakheel's engineers may take solace in the thought that they should be safe from divine retribution for another 1,100m or so...

But how do the leaders of this project describe their plans? Sultan Bin Sulayem, chairman of Nakheel, crafter of the luxury hotel market and widely regarded as one of the architects of the modern Dubai phenomenon enthuses,

"Nakheel has sought inspiration not just from Islamic design but also from the Islamic principles of inclusion, innovation, diversity, excellence, growth and progress. These are the same principles that have motivated and guided Islamic culture and helped create its great cities throughout history. Now they are shaping the cities of the future."

With these gargantuan projects forecast to not only provide more centres for global business, but to also draw in higher level of tourism through tailor made holidays and the promise of impossible luxury, Dubai seems to be a 21st century frontier. One in which the sky is no longer, it seems, the limit.