Biggest Gets Bigger

Dubai is a city of biggest everything. It hosts the world’s tallest building, biggest shopping mall, biggest man made islands, longest driverless rail network and many other greatest objects of fascination.

But it doesn’t stop here. Dubai is so obsessed with being the biggest that it doesn’t want any other city to come even close. That’s why it is currently expanding some of the already biggest and greatest places in Dubai.

Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall, comprising over 12 million square feet, is accepted as the biggest mall in the world. It has highest number of shops than any other mall and last year it received more visitors than any other mall in the world. The reason for such popularity are attractions like Dubai Aquarium, which is one of the largest aquarium in the world, Dubai fountain, which is the largest music fountain in the world, candilicious, which is biggest candy shop in the world, and off course access to At The Top, the observatory on 124’s floor of Burj Khaleefa, the tallest building in the world. To see any of these things you have to go to Dubai Mall. Not to mention all the shopping, dining, and entertainment options provided by Dubai Mall.

Image Source: Flickr

But all of these world records don’t seem to satisfy the mall’s developer Emaar Properties because recently they announced that they will add another one million square feet to Dubai Mall.

Imagine Dubai Mall, a place that takes hours just to visit, getting even bigger. Would they be offering camping sites for people to just camp and live there for few days to cover everything that the mall has to offer?

Dubai Metro

Dubai Metro holds the world record of being the longest driverless train network in the world. It is already setting new records of growth and popularity which is increasing with every passing day. I am a big fan of Dubai metro and use it whenever I get a chance.

And recently it was announced that Green Line of Dubai Metro is expanding till Dubai Academic City. This will allow access to the metro to thousands of people specially the students who go to Dubai Academic City. Not to mention the long terms plans of adding more lines in the network to connect Dubai International Airport and Al Makhtoom Airport (which will start commercial operation in 2014).

Well I’m all for extension of the metro. As much as people are using it I still think it doesn’t cover the entire city and any plans or ideas of extension are welcomed.

Ibn Battuta Mall

Ibn Battuta Mall is the biggest theme based mall in the world. Although it’s a single level mall, it takes half an hour to walk from one end to another end of the mall (if you are walking at a normal pace, like you walk in a mall). When I first visited Ibn Battuta Mall in September 2005 (while I was visiting Dubai), it was newly opened and there were hardly any visitors (since at that time it was pretty much out of town), and we were thinking who would come to shop here so far out of town. But now after almost seven years the mall is always crowded.

Image Source: Flickr

And guess what, Ibn Battuta Mall is also undergoing expansion. Nakheel is planning to increase the size of the mall by 100%. That means double. I will not speculate on this decision as only Dubai crazy ideas like this are made successful.

Dragon Mart

Dragon Mart is the biggest market of Chinese goods outside of mainland China. From a bird’s eye view, it actually looks like a dragon. If you love Chinese goods then Dragon Mart is a must visit place for you. I have been there many times and love the place. Needless to say, its huge. It’s very easy to get lost in Dragon Mart even though like IBN Battuta Mall it’s all on single level. That’s because of the symmetrical architecture of the place.

Image Source: Flickr

But that’s not enough as Nakheel is doubling the size of Dragon Mart as well. This means the dragon’s tail will get even longer and I would not dare to walk from the head of the dragon to all the way down to the tail.