Re: Male Menopause by A T - 09-Oct-08
Interesting statement, in the branding and marketing conference at Cityscape, there was mention of a smattering of pride / ego projects. Nobody really "cares" as such, but think about it as a PR exercise. The headline Tallest tower in world will grab attention globally. Goodbye marketing and advertising costs, hello investors.

If people are willing to pay a premium for a hotel developed by Nakheel on the Palm, which has the Trump stamp on it, of course they will be willing to own a piece of "history".

My theory is never live on a floor higher than the height of the local fire truck ladder! or make some close friends with Kone, Thyssen Krupp, Schindler etc, and get your own private 0 - floor 360 lift in less than 10 seconds.

Building this project is not taking away money from people, who cannot currently afford to buy their own house. Nakheel is a publicly traded government owned entity, and is responsible to shareholders. If you are making the point that they should build affordable housing or possibly even free housing for low level workers, this would not be seen as making enough profit for the shareholders,

Further more, a cursory glance at Kuwait's real estate market, where the government must provide housing for all its nationals, will demonstrate the glacier like pace at which such an affordable housing program would move.

Is it incumbent upon governments in the region to provide subsidised or free housing to blue collar workers? Maybe, but if so, would you be prepared to contribute towards the cost of the infrastructure (roads / utilities / etc) surrounding your own house which you have paid full price for?

If we are to be living in a community, as these mixed use style developments suggest, then we had better start acting like a community and sharing the benefits and costs of living together. [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]

Male Menopause by Tahani Karrar, Reporter, Zawya Dow Jones - 09-Oct-08
Really, who cares who has the biggest or longest tower? This sort of thing reminds me of Elizabethan England when men would contest on who carried the largest sword until it got to a stage when they couldn't use their swords in fighting anymore because they were too heavy.

Forgive me, but this is what happens when you have too many menopausal men in power.

For more info on Elizabethan sword see:

http://www.margospatterns.com/swords.htm [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]

Re: Longest Tower by Sean Connolly - 09-Oct-08
By the time this project is completed, the current economic "crisis" will be ancient history. Besides, it is very interesting and motivating to see what people with a vision can do especially in a dry, arid land. [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]

Longest Tower by A Realist - 06-Oct-08
Isn't kind of sad that with all that's happening in terms of Global financial crises and burst real estate bubbles, and which is coming quite near to hitting the real estate markets in the region, and then you hear such absurd statements like having the next longest tower in the world, when already Dubai has one. What is being proved here? [Report Abuse | Email to a Friend | Reply to this Comment]