Wow, I missed a lot of what was going on in this thread, I have only sporadic internet access. Righty.
Really, I have to say it, a viewing platform at 442m on a 828m building is pretty pathetic. Well, outrageously terrible actually.
I mean it's only just over half way up the TOTAL height (53%)... HALF!!!
They really should be embarrassed... ashamed...
It's about planning and about the space they let out. Businesses, restaurants and some freehold companies already bought the space on the higher floors. At the end of the day the building is a business proposition, and tourism is only a tiny part of the revenue the building makes.
Secondly, Out of the 206 floors the building has, the 46 are for maintenance only, so 124/160-ish isn't too bad to have a viewing deck. It's not like you'd be able to tell too much difference between going a few more floors up.
Which is all irrelevant anyway, given that it's still the highest public viewing deck in the world. A good 20 floors above the best that Sears Tower can manage. And it's still, I think you'll agree,
pretty freaking high. Khalifa has kicked the ass of several building records so I doubt they're too bothered that their highest-in-the-world viewing deck isn't as high as someone who'll probably never go up it thinks it should be...
Is the pale blue lagoon in the complex an oversized swimming pool, a boating lake or just an ornamental pond?
It's basically an ornamental pond, with fountains that shoot up to about 150m high. Or half way up The Address, pictured in the photo.
I think Dubai does stuff just to do it! They really didn't need to build such a tall building, did they? They could've just built a few smaller buildings for cheaper.
And I guess there's no reason to buy a Ferrari when I could buy ten Ford Mondeos for the same price. Why would I have one awesome car when I could have ten boring ones?
Yeah, most of the buildings don't even have roads going to them. There's like an interstate highway going down the middle with tall plastic-looking towers right next to it, but no exits, no way to get to them, no traffic lights, and a bunch of dirt. It looks so poorly planned and developed. Are they seriously going to fill all the empty space with buildings just like that? Sounds ridiculous.
Yeah, assuming all that from a photo taken half a kilometer up (and over a kilometer away) probably isn't going to be the most accurate judgement ever...
You have a motorway running through the middle of all the buildings. There is a fair bit of space on either side, and each side also has a main road running in front and behind, as well as roads running between each skyscraper. You also have off-ramps every so often, more than frequently enough to reach your destination. There are traffic signals, but there's little use for them on a motorway, right?
And yes, there's a lot of sand (which may or may not come as a surprise from a country that's
mostly desert) but when you've got that much building work going on it's rather useful to have places to store all the equipment. I suspect that in the future when it's all done and dusted the areas will just be grassed or treed over.
Most of what you're seeing from the far-away vantage point actually has stuff built on it already, anyway. The large "space" between those skyscrapers and the coast is residential. And they're
very nice houses, too.
Here's mine:
- Sex outside marriage is banned. But not impossible...
- Sale of alcohol is severely restricted. It's very, very easy to find places where you can legally drink.
- The myth of creationism is taught there as a scientific theory. Probably in the Muslim schools, but my girlfriend lived out there for ten years and went to international schools which taught everything that any normal school would, yet probably better seeing as teachers go from all around the world to teach in Dubai.
- You can't even kiss someone in public for risk of running afoul of the strict decency laws there. It's not that big a deal. You have to be taking the piss a little to get into trouble.
Compared to Vegas, Dubai is crap.
When you've been to
both places, like I have, then you can start making judgements like that...
Did I mention there's no casinos?
If
that's a deciding factor then I feel a little sorry for you.
Seriously, I'm more than happy to answer any questions on the place to the best of my knowledge, and I'd much prefer it to people making uneducated guesses and assumptions based on heresay. I'm sure that GTP member
Christhedude could fill you in too, given that he lives there.
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