Burj Khalifa developer plans to construct new 'world's tallest building' in Dubai

Dive Brief:

In the ongoing race to build higher and higher, Dubai developer Emaar Properties has announced its plans for The Tower, which it said will "be a notch taller" than the current world’s tallest building, Dubai’s 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Although Emaar, which also built the Burj Khalifa, has not released a final height for the new commercial tower, it said the building will also be in Dubai and will include an observation deck and hotel, all located in a planned mixed-use residential and retail zone next to a wildlife sanctuary. Emaar said the building should open before the 2020 World Expo.
The Tower might be late to the race for the top spot, as another competitor is already under construction — the $1.23 billion, 3,280-foot-tall Jeddah Tower, also known as Kingdom Tower, which is part of the $2.2 billion Jeddah City. Jeddah Tower will feature offices, a residential component and a hotel, all of which should open ahead of The Tower in 2019.

Dive Insight:

The Tower’s design is the brainchild of architect Santiago Calatrava Valls — the same architect who designed the Oculus centerpiece for New York City’s new World Trade Center transportation hub, which opened last month.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat proclaimed 2016 to be the year of "megatall" buildings — 1,968 feet or higher — and predicted their numbers will more than double from three to seven in the next five years. And, according to the CTBUH, more skyscrapers were built in 2015 than in any other year on record.

This year is also set to be a record breaker in terms of certain skyscrapers set for completion. The Ping An Finance Center in Shenzhen, China, at 1,965 feet, will be the world's tallest office building and the fourth tallest building in the world when it opens. The Goldfin Finance 117 (1,959 feet) in Tianjn, China, and the Lotte World Tower (1,820 feet) in Seoul, South Korea are also scheduled to open.

Currently, the world’s second tallest building is the Shanghai Tower (2,073 feet) in Shanghai, China, and the number three spot is held by the Makkah Royal Clock Tower (1,972 feet) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. However, all of these skyscrapers could be overshadowed if plans for the 3,780-foot Bride of the Gulf in Basra, Iraq come to fruition. If completed, it would be more than 1,000 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa.