Burj Khalifa is a great example. It is an incredible building. Beautiful design, and from the pictures I've seen that my friend took, an out an out badass building. But over the five years that it took to build, Dubai went from the best performing property market to the worst. The collapse of global credit caused 50% of the real estate projects to be cancelled in the emirate. Almost a year after its inauguration, 90% of its private apartments were still vacant. Most of its business went the "The Address" next door. So why, when the world is in this financial state,( http://hubski.com/pub?id=13029 )are we designing and building these structures that are so big? A smaller building would better suit the needs of the city. I mean it's a desert, how tall does it need to be? It just seems like some sort of national pride crap that we've already discovered is senseless. As put it, "territorial pissing", http://hubski.com/pub?id=10646 .