Skyscraper challenge at the Gulf?
At the Persian Gulf there is hardly a day without superlatives: Burj Dubai about to become the highest tower of the world, already scratches the sky with its height of 600 meter. In autumn 2009 the mega-building shaped like a desert flower is supposed to be ready for use.
The topic seems to occupy the minds of the German press. The Handelsblatt for example writes on July 4th, 2008 “tower construction a la Dubai”. The Stern splashes out a picture gallery and the Spiegel dedicates a five-page report on country and topic.
But what would Dubai be like without regional competition? The Stuttgarter Nachrichten just lately reported on apparently the same thing “tower construction a la Dubai”. What, again the same headline? Are the journalists running out of ideas? Not so the Arabs from the Gulf. Well, the article states that there is rivalry coming from a neighbouring state: The Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal plans the errection of a more than one kilometer high skyscraper already.
