You thought you’d seen it all in Dubai with megastructures like Palm Islands, The World, and the incredible height of the Burj Khalifa, right? Well think again, Dubai is now erecting a new building that will exceed the most famous skyscraper on the planet by 100m, and the city has already staged the first flight of a taxi drone. It seems there’s no stopping the desire to innovate in this prosperous nation.
Let’s begin with what in 2020 will hold the title as the tallest building in the world. After a name change, it will now be called the Dubai Creek Tower and is set to cost €900 M. The design of the structure is influenced by the natural forms of the lily flower and will be the city’s new icon with 6 square kilometres facilities and 39,000 luxury homes.
The construction has been entrusted to the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and the building will house 20 floors of apartments, a hotel, restaurants, hanging gardens, leisure areas, several observation decks with 360-degree views of the city, and many other features yet to be announced. Continuing with the other staggering figures, the foundations will run to a depth of 70 metres and have already been covered with more than 43,000 cubic metres of cement.
The tower at Dubai Creek Harbour will be lit up every night in blue and green as a tribute to the positivity, energy and optimism that symbolises Dubai and the Arab Emirates, and its firm commitment to progress.
Moving from macro to micro, another of its latest technical feats is the maiden flight of the world’s first taxi drone through the city’s skies. Developed by the German company Volocopter, it’s designed to fly unmanned on flights of up to 30 minutes. It’s an eponymous helicopter drone hybrid with 18 rotors, and in the event of an emergency, it’s fitted with two emergency parachutes, a battery management unit, and spare rotors to ensure passenger safety in the worst case scenario.
The taxi drone service will be available to book via an app that will find the nearest one available. The Crown Prince of Dubai is delighted about the project and said he plans to offer it his guests at future events. So now you know, when you leave the magnificent facilities at the Armada BlueBay**** for a business meeting at the BV Blackstone****, all you have to do is grab your mobile, make that call to order your Volocopter and get ready to fly. Well, since you’re in the dron you could do a couple of stops in wonderful places like Jumeirah Lakes Towers or Deira. On your return to Armada BlueBay **** you will always be able to release the tensions of the flight resting in your room with all luxury of details and comforts.
But the United Arab Emirates has no intention of stopping in the sky and is already planning to send an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021, which will be the first-ever space mission by any Arab or Muslim country. They also have other impressive projects under way like the first driverless underground and prototypes of robot police officers that defy the plot of any sci-fi movie you have in mind…
