World's tallest skyscraper opens with great ceremony, acclaim

By Ribal Dayekh in Dubai
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-01-06

[MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images] Fireworks illuminate the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, during its official opening January 4th.

"This is the tallest tower ever built by the hands of men; it therefore deserves to carry the name of a Great Man".

With those words Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the Khalifa Ben Zayed Tower in Dubai on Monday (January 4th), during a ceremony that fascinated millions around the world.

The tower's renaming came as a surprise, especially when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid unveiled a plate with the name "Burj Khalifa" instead of "Burj Dubai". The tower was renamed in honour of UAE President, and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa ben Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid told reporters from 160 news agencies that "today the UAE is adding a point of light to the map of the modern world."

Several thousand people attended the ceremony. Residents and guests from around the world gathered around the tower two hours before the festivities began.

Event organizers broadcast statistics on a giant screen including one touting the tower as the tallest building on Earth at 828 metres (2,717 feet) high. It surpassed Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan which is 500 metres (1,640 feet) tall. The design was inspired by a desert tulip.

The tower has more than 160 floors, contains more than 330 thousand square metres (3.25 million square feet) of cement, 31,400 metric tons of steel, and 57 elevators. The project cost an estimated $1.5 billion.

The event was viewed by more than two billion people in the world, while “Burj Dubai” was at the top of Yahoo’s search list, and only one hour after the inauguration the search word was still the most used and shared word on Twitter.

The skyscraper Burj Khalifa Ben Zayed on Sheikh Zayed Road was developed by Emaar Properties.

"This inaugural ceremony proves that the economy of Dubai is strong and proves that Dubai businesses are committed to their projects and their deadlines," said Hazem Ali, a financial consultant in Dubai.

"Renaming the tower Burj Khalifa sends a message to those who tried to drive a wedge between Dubai and Abu Dhabi," he said. "When one of the emirates achieves something, it is a national achievement."

Ali said that the financial repercussions of this event will be noticeable over the short and long terms.

"Over the short term, we saw a price increase for residential and business units in the tower, which directly affected the surrounding areas. This will also lead to an increase in benefits for Emaar Properties, who in turn will venture in new projects in the UAE and around the world. Over the long term, the tower will attract more local and international corporations that want to be based at this prestigious address. The real estate market will flourish with investors buying and leasing units in the tower."

Dr. Rima Al-Siban, an assistant professor of sociology in U.A.E.’s Zayed University, said the inauguration was a great event for Dubai, the UAE, the Middle East and the Arabs especially.

"The inauguration was on every TV station in the world. The wide coverage of the event was proof enough of its magnitude," Siban said.

When asked what she thinks of the event's timing, given the worldwide recession, she replied that it wasn't unusual.

"When the Empire State Building was inaugurated in 1932, the world was also in a recession. It was also the case during the inauguration of the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. Most of Asia was in the grip of a recession."

The building's inaugural date coincided with the fourth anniversary of Sheikh Al Maktoum's term as the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai.

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