World's tallest tower to be built .. in Dubai

Emaar Properties PJSC plans to build a $1 billion skyscraper in Dubai that will exceed the height of the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building.   Construction will start at the end of June and will finish before Dubai hosts the World Expo in 2020.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-10/dubai-developer-of-world-s-tallest-tower-going-to-new-heights

Dubai Palm Island

Dubai Sewage System

There isn't one.  They rely on trucks to haul their poop away.  But the system doesn't seem to be working very efficiently.  See the line of sewage tanker trucks that lasts for miles.

Dubai is a failed city

At least 40% of the newly built skyscrapers will never be occupied.  Its tallest, the Burj Khalifa, isn't even connected to a sewage system, and sewage has to be hauled off in trucks.  The man-made islands are falling into the sea.  And the new amusement parks will never be finished.

"Dubai is a cautionary tale about what money can’t buy: a culture of its own."
--http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/04/dubai-201104 

The city has 3 classes of people.  The Emiratis are very wealthy but this isn't their city.  They are a minority there, and don't know how to do anything.  Then there are the expats, who don't put down roots and are just there for the money.  Finally, the slaves, contract laborers from Bangladesh or Pakistan or the Philippines, who are paid little and have no rights.

The harsh climate ages buildings rapidly.  "The average lifespan of a building in the UAE is 15 to 30 years, due to the harsh climate and humidity. As many as 30 per cent of all buildings in the emirate were either too old or decaying rapidly."  Empty buildings are a magnet for crime, and hundreds of them are being demolished.

Dubai-Sharjah

Dubai and Sharjah are part of the same metro area, as shown by the above map.  Dubai has about 1.7 million residents, and Sharjah has about 1.2 million, totalling 2.9 million in the area.  At a nominal GDP/person of $67,000, the area's total GDP is about $194 billion.

Update:  Dubai has a GDP of about 306 billion dirhams (source).  Sharjah has a GDP of about 72 billion dirhams (source).  So the total is about 378 billion.  At the rate of 3.6725/dollar that comes out to $US 103 billion.

Sewage at the Burj Khalifa

The tallest building in the world isn't connected to a sewage system.  Instead they haul the sewage away in trucks.

See: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/11/the-tallest-building-in-the-world-would-be-poop-without-trucks/
http://boingboing.net/2011/11/08/what-happens-when-you-flush-a-toilet-in-the-worlds-tallest-building.html

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The Burj Khalifa is practically empty:

"This symbol of the pre-financial crisis building boom opened practically empty, after all.  In late 2010, according to local business reports, about 825 of its 900 condos were unoccupied. ...for now at least, it is plainly no towering achievement in urban planning."
--http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2012/01/isthe-worlds-tallest-buildinghaving-its-king-kong-moment-two-years-afterdubais-burj-khalifa-opened-amida-blaze-of-fireworks.html

Elevated walkway planned for Dubai

"The glass tube-like walkway will connect the skyscraper and the adjoining Dubai Mall to the nearby metro station, as Emirates 24/7 reports. The walkway will be roughly 820 meters long, with a central pedestrian passage flanked on each side by five moving walkways (or as Emirates 24/7 awesomely calls them, “travelators”). Emaar Properties, developer of Downtown Dubai, estimates that its new walkway can handle a peak capacity of 13,500 pedestrians per hour."
--http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/01/plans-air-conditioned-stroll-burj-khalifa-dubai-metro/887/

Dubai

Anara Tower, Dubai

Also, check out this amazing bridge being built in Dubai: