Where wonders never cease

If any country could wipe the slate clean and start again, chances are it would look to Dubai for inspiration. For Dubai is a clever little country. It doesn't think big - it thinks huge. In just 50 years, the tiny emirate has risen from the sand and made sure the world took notice.

And, not possessing the security of massive oil reserves like the rest of its neighbours, Dubai took a different course and, by running the country as if it were a corporation, it has gone on to tuck a neat range of bold developments under its belt to earn its reputation as one of the foremost dynamic and prosperous economies in the world. And, by the look of things, there are a few more clever ideas up its sleeve.

The first thing Dubai did many years ago was throw out "impossible" from the national vernacular. The optimism in the air here is probably the single, most powerful attraction to lure so many international names and thousands of ex-pats - including scores of Maltese - to settle in Dubai.

That besides no corporate, personal, income or withholding tax; no foreign exchange controls, quotas or trade barriers; numerous exemptions from import duties; cleanliness, tolerance and top-notch standards; a visionary, ambitious leadership; streamlined bureaucracy; an openness to competition; a business culture based on trust; and a non-existent crime rate.

No matter how widely travelled any visitor to Dubai is, it's difficult not to be awed by the country's courageous, almost audacious, drive to constantly break down barriers - everything here is about being the biggest, the best, the most spectacular - and most importantly, about the bottom line. At the end of the day, Dubai - do buy, Dubai - stands for making money. And because Dubai is making so much money, it thrives on luxury, opulence and extravagance. Mediocrity does not have a home here. (Nor does the super mini favoured by Europeans - here you only drive a 4X4, preferably a Range Rover, Humvee, Audi or Porsche. And nobody bats an eyelid - it's hard to see gas guzzler snobbery ever reaching this place.) So where else would the world's tallest tower be built but here? Downtown Dubai, a sprawling new development, has been dubbed the most prestigious square kilometre on the plant, and will be home to $1 billion Burj Dubai, with a curtain wall equivalent to 17 football fields (800 metres) - the tallest in the world when completed next year.

The tower will be the centrepiece of this wondrous $20 billion neighbourhood of 30,000 homes, that will incorporate the Dubai Mall (the largest in the world), the Old Town (an Arabic cultural and heritage quarter), The Residences (six striking residential towers), five ultra-luxurious hotels, The Boulevard (3.5 km of parks and open spaces), a 36-acre sparkling lake, and 60 acres of landscaped gardens.

The tip of Burj Dubai's spire will be visible from 95 km away. Inside, it will house the Armani Hotel Dubai which will boast 160 guest rooms and suites, restaurants, and a 40,000 square metre spa. Above the hotel are 144 residential apartments all designed by Giorgio Armani and fully furnished with Armani Casa collection pieces. Other floors at the Burj Dubai will accommodate exclusive corporate suite offices, residential suites, four luxurious pools, a cigar club, an observation deck 442 metres above ground (the highest publicly accessible one in the world), restaurants, a library, an exclusive residents' lounge, and 15,000 square feet of fitness facilities. Over 2,400 construction workers are on site daily working in shifts round the clock.

Downtown Dubai will be accessible from across the United Arab Emirates thanks to a new road network and monorail system and there will not be a single traffic light to slow you down on your way from the airport.

The stats are relentlessly staggering. Dubai Mall (www.thedubaimall.com), will be 12.1 million square feet with 3.7 million square feet of leasable space and boast the largest gold souk in the world, the biggest walk-through aquarium anywhere, an Olympic-size ice skating rink, 16,000 covered car spaces, 1,200 shops offering all the wares under the sun, and 70 waterfront restaurants. Meanwhile, the world's most prestigious brands will congregate on Fashion Island, part of Dubai Mall, but with a separate grand entrance.

Downtown Dubai is the flagship project of Emaar, Dubai's largest real estate developer and one of the world's biggest players in the sector. Among its impressive portfolio, is a joint venture with Syrian investors to build Syria's first luxury residential, office and shopping project on the Damascus-Beirut highway called "Eighth Gate" (historically, Damascus has seven). Established in 1997, Emaar has completed 14,500 homes to date, and announced net profits for the first three quarters ended September 30, 2006, of $1.268 billion.

Rival development company Nakheel (www.nakheel.com) prides itself on changing Dubai's landscape - literally. When he launched his vision to turn Dubai into one of the world's leading tourism destinations towards the end of the Nineties, Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had an ingenious solution to a slight problem. Dubai only has 70 km of natural coastline. The answer: build a palm-shaped island to maximise the beach front creating 78 km of coastline. Throughout its five years of construction, The Palm Jumeirah saw the transfer of 92 million cubic metres of sand and the placement of over seven million cubic metres of rock - the reclamation material used to build The Palm Jumeirah would be enough for a two-metre thick wall that would circle the Earth three times.

The fronds of the palm are the main residential area and are to be home to over 8,000 residents (the brochure indicates that in 2004 the Beckhams chose a villa here; the villas were sold out within 72 hours of launch). There are 20 Shoreline Apartments buildings on the east side of the trunk housing (over 2,500 apartments and 80 luxurious penthouses, besides five exclusive beachfront clubhouses with world class fitness centres and direct access to the white beaches.

There are 30 hotels here, most along the 11-km crescent, where the flagship property will be Atlantis, The Palm, a 1,539-room, ocean-themed destination, based on its sister property, the Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The Palm Golden Mile will be lined with 220 shops offering the most exclusive brands, plus restaurants and cafes, besides some of the most extraordinary homes. The island's centerpiece will be the 300-room, 400-freehold residence Trump International Hotel & Tower The Palm Jumeirah.

The Palm Jumeirah is the first and smallest of a trilogy of 'palm developments' to be nearing completion. Nakheel's plans include The Palm, Deira, and The Palm, Jebel Ali, the largest of the three. Unlike the palms, The World, a collection of islands built to resemble a world map, are entirely cut off from the mainland and potential residents will make their way home by yacht or helicopter. At the other end of this stretch of coastline will sit the Dubai Waterfront project, larger than Manhattan and Beirut, a choice of over 250 master-planned communities up for investment. It is all part of a new downtown venture, Madinat Al Arab, the focal point of which will be Al Burj, one of the world's tallest buildings.

An exciting new project is also waiting in the wings in the desert not far away: Dubailand, the largest theme park in the world, will be six times as big as Orlando's and should be completed in 2009. One of its main attractions will be replica, real-size dinosaurs.

As one high-flying executive put it: Dubai works on attracting the right people with the right money at the right time. The maxim, he explained, is simple: "Build your project and the clients will come". Payback? Two to three years!

These modern-day wonders are just part of the package that make Dubai so attractive to visitors. It is not entirely the exclusive playground of the very affluent and the very wealthy - but it's great fun to observe. Dubai has set itself a target of 15 million tourists by 2010 (and a total of 50-60 million passengers in seven years, hence the construction of two new airports).

For lesser mortals who hop over to bag a bargain on high-tech gizmos and designer gear, Dubai offers more than a leisure holiday or a shopping spree. It offers a lifestyle experience in a place like no other on earth.

Joanna Ripard travelled to Dubai courtesy of award-winning Emirates Airlines (www.emirates.com), which operates five flights weekly between Malta and Dubai via Larnaca, Cyprus, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. For more information contact the Emirates Sales Office at Malta International Airport (tel. 2557-7255) or local travel agents.