Downtown Dubai

Downtown Dubai, previously known as Downtown Burj Dubai, is a large-scale, mixed-use complex under development in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the home of some of the city's most important landmarks including Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, and Dubai Fountain. It covers an area of 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi), at an estimated cost of US$20 billion (Dh73 billion) upon completion.

The complex is situated along Sheikh Zayed Road, across from Al Wasl locality on the Northwest. It is bounded to the South by Business Bay and to the Northeast by Financial Centre Road, which separates it from Zabeel 2 and Trade Center 2. It is connected to the Dubai Metro via the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro Station. The First Interchange, which is in its last phases of construction, will guarantee the free flow of traffic to and from the area.

Development is divided into 11 projects. Burj Khalifa, Dubai Fountain, Dubai Mall, Burj Park Island, and The Address Downtown Dubai hotel are at the center of the complex. The Old Town and The Old Town Island are mostly low-rise residential buildings, in addition to three hotels and Souq Al Bahar. Emaar Boulevard, The Residences and South Ridge comprise high-rise residential towers. Emaar Square is a low-rise office complex.

Dubai

Dubai (/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-BY; Arabic: دبي‎ Dubayy, Gulf pronunciation: [dʊˈbɑj]) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is one of the seven emirates that make up the country. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the emirate's northern coastline and heads up the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Dubai is to host World Expo 2020.

Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a major transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s Dubai's economy was based on revenues from trade and, to a smaller extent, oil exploration concessions, but oil was not discovered until 1966. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969. Dubai's oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low: today, less than 5% of the emirate's revenue comes from oil. The emirate's Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the city's largely South Asian workforce. Dubai's property market experienced a major deterioration in 2008–09 following the financial crisis of 2007–08, but the emirate's economy has made a return to growth, with a projected 2015 budget surplus.

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎, "Khalifa Tower", pronounced English /ˈbɜːrdʒ kəˈliːfə/), known as Burj Dubai before its inauguration, is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the tallest artificial structure in the world, standing at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).

Construction of Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior completed in 2009. The primary structure is reinforced concrete. The building opened in 2010, as part of the new development called Downtown Dubai. It is designed to be the centerpiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to build the building is reportedly based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition. The building was named in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Abu Dhabi and the UAE government lent Dubai money to pay its debts. The building broke numerous height records.

Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith then of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), whose firm also designed the Willis Tower and the One World Trade Center. Hyder Consulting was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project. The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture, incorporating cultural and historical elements particular to the region such as the spiral minaret. The Y-shaped plan is designed for residential and hotel usage. A buttressed core structural system is used to support the height of the building, and the cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's summer temperatures. A total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators are installed, with the elevators having a capacity of 12 to 14 people per cabin.

Downtown

Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core (or center) or central business district (CBD), often in a geographical, commercial, or communal sense. The term is not generally used in British English, whose speakers instead use the term city centre.

The term is thought to have been coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original town at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan. As the town of New York grew into a city, the only direction it could grow on the island was toward the north, proceeding upriver from the original settlement (the "up" and "down" terminology in turn came from the customary map design in which up was north and down was south). Thus, anything north of the original town became known as "uptown" (Upper Manhattan), while the original town (which was also New York's only major center of business at the time) became known as "downtown" (Lower Manhattan).

During the late 19th century, the term was gradually adopted by cities across the United States and Canada to refer to the historical core of the city (which was most often the same as the commercial heart of the city). Notably, it was not included in dictionaries as late as the 1880s. But by the early 1900s, downtown was clearly established as the proper term in American English for a city's central business district.

E 11 road (United Arab Emirates)

E 11 (in Arabic: شارع ﺇ ١١) is a highway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The longest road in the Emirates, it stretches from Al-Silah in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ends in Ras al-Khaimah emirate at the Oman border, running roughly parallel to UAE's coastline along the Persian Gulf. The road forms the main artery in some emirates' main cities, where it assumes various alternate names — Sheikh Maktoum Road in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, and Sheikh Muhammad bin Salem Road in Ras al-Khaimah.

Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway

The Dubai-Abu Dhabi Highway of E 11 links the two largest cities of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The project was proposed by the Sheikhs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Sheikh Zayed. In 1971, the project was approved and construction began. The highway was completed in 1980. The highway starts near Maqta Bridge in Abu Dhabi and becomes Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.

Sheikh Zayed Road

In Dubai, E 11 is known as "Sheikh Zayed Road" (in Arabic: شارع الشيخ زايد). This road is the main artery of the city.The highway runs parallel to the coastline from Trade Centre Roundabout to the border with the emirate of Abu Dhabi, 55 kilometres (34 mi) away in the area of Jebel Ali.