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Our testosterone-fuelled city

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It seems that with each passing week, we discover a new project that promises to give us the biggest, brightest, tallest structure in the region. It will redefine the Middle East. It will bring foreign investors. We will be viewed worldwide as the “new Paris,” the “new New York,” the new whatever.

Donald Trump comes in and makes a noise about building a skyscraper that will exceed the Burj Dubai. Saudi Prince Al Walid bin Talal is planning his Mile-High Tower in Jeddah. In Bahrain, the Al Moayyed Towers is set to take shape in the Seef District.

Nakheel’s Tall Tower between Jumeirah Lake Towers and Ibn Battuta Mall on Sheikh Zayed Road will be taller than the Burj Dubai at 1400m.

In this week's issue of Construction Week, features editor Shikha Mishra reports on the Marina Pinnacle Tower in the Dubai Marina. The tower will reach 71 floors. Everyone associated with the project is bursting with pride that it will be among the tallest structures in the Marina.

And now this: A new tall tower that will exceed all skyscrapers reportedly will be built in the middle of the planned Jumeirah Garden City. This latest piece of news falls somewhere between knowledgeable contractors leaking the news and a bit of speculation. But if experience tells us anything about Dubai, where there is smoke there is fire. As far as the construction community is concerned, the proposed tower is a reality.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I must again wonder where all of this is going and for what purpose. While it’s exciting to see visionaries execute the boldest plans ever conceived on a global scale in commercial and residential development, there is an aspect of machismo here that borders on the silly.

Given this, it can be interpreted not as visionary thinking, but simply part of the testosterone-fuelled developers and architects who appear to have something to prove to themselves and to their colleagues.
 

Rob Wagner is the editor of Construction Week.
 

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