Dubai Combines New York City and London Into One Massive Indoor City

Plans have been unveiled for a 48 million-square-foot indoor city in Dubai. Plans for the "Mall of the World" show a 48 million-square-foot complex of shops...

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Complex Original

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The city of Dubai does absolutely nothing in moderation. From unnecessarily tall buildings to wrecked exotic cars abandoned in the desert, if news about a city is borderline unbelievable, it probably happened there.

The Guardian recently published an article about the city's newest claim to fame: the creation of the world's first indoor city. "For the desert city-state that has the tallest building in the world, as well as the biggest flower garden and largest aquarium on the planet, plus islands shaped like palm trees, buildings in the shape of sails, and an entire archipelago shaped like the world itself, there was only one obvious next step: building an entire city indoors."

Plans for the "Mall of the World" show a 48 million-square-foot complex of shops, walkways, 20,000 hotel rooms, a tram system, castles, and waterfalls, all under a climate-controlled, retractable glass dome. Many of the elements inside take inspiration from existing cities, like Broadway in New York and London's Oxford Street. Check this infographic for full specs and watch the video below.

We plan to transform Dubai into a cultural, tourist and economic hub for the two billion people living in the region around us," said Sheikh Mohammed, the VP, prime minister, and ruler of Dubai. He added that the city's goals are "higher than having seasonal tourism. Tourism is a key driver of our economy, and we aim to make the UAE an attractive destination all year long. This is why we will start working on providing pleasant temperature-controlled environments during the summer months."

 

According to the Guardian, "no timeframe or budget has yet been announced for the Mall of the World, but Dubai Holding, the state-owned development company behind the project, hopes it will be the emirate's main focus at the UAE World Expo trade fair in 2020."

You may want to hold off for a bit before making travel plans.

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[via PSFK]

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