Dubai to stand tall with 3,000 towers
Roughly 3,000 towers (both mid- and high-rise) are in various stages of planning, design, development and construction in Dubai between now and 2025.
Dubai World Central (DWC) could have about 1,100 apartment towers in its residential cluster and 850 in the commercial zone.
These are in addition to the nearly 200 towers under development in Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers.
A few hundred each will be built in Dubai Waterfront, Jumeirah Village South and Dubailand.
This is a staggering development considering Dubai's relatively small land area of 4,114 square kilometres and a population of just over 1.4 million.
In comparison, there are around 5,500 high-rise towers in New York City, according to Matthew Green, research manager at Cluttons UAE.
With inflation at a high and many countries struggling against an economic downturn, Dubai is flying high and booming as strongly as ever.
While Dubai continues to grow and new buildings are launched almost daily, this rapid development is hurting the environment since the real estate industry has failed to develop open spaces such as public parks.
Eamon Alashkar, head of capital investment at Colliers Middle East, said that although Dubai is developing at a rapid rate, more public spaces should have been created in the planning stages.
"Most developments we've seen to date have built a bare minimum of active public space which is insufficient for the density of residents and built-up area alongside it," Alashkar said.
Matthew Green agrees.
"The outcome here will depend greatly on the government, including how it restricts development in certain locations and the development of green areas," Green said.
However, in the rush to build and reap the rewards, some developers have neglected to plan open grass areas and parks, as found in other major cities, such as London and New York.
"Dubai's future built environment appears to be largely subject to the objectives of profit-driven real estate developers," Alashkar said.
Although open spaces are cleverly advertised in some developments to attract investors, the final picture is somewhat different.
Sadly, while a well-placed photograph of a park or open area in a brochure will cause the money to roll in, it seems in reality, no profit can be made out of a patch of grass.
