Top 10: Outrageous Dubai Construction Projects

No.1 - The World Islands
Global warming may drown Florida and most coastlines in the near future. Dubai's answer? Build its own islands rising out of an ever-rising sea. The World Islands make up the only man-made archipelago, consisting of 300 islands. You can own the last one for $250 million. If you do, your new neighbors might be David Beckham and Rod Stewart, as both are rumored to have bought into this outrageous man-made wonder.

No.2 - Business Bay
In Dubai, if you're going to play hard, you're going to work just as hard. As such, Dubai is in the process of constructing a downtown, central business district known as Business Bay. What's so special about a business district? Every city has them. Well, in Dubai, there will be 230 office towers, including many of the most spectacular office towers on this list. Dubai is literally changing the face of the city by moving Dubai Creek, adding 7 miles to this water way in the process, in order to make Dubai the place to do business anywhere in the world. While the first towers came online in 2007, completion of the project won't occur until 2010.

No.3 - Mall of Arabia
Sure, Americans may be the world's baseline consumers, but they've got nothing on this mall in Dubai. The Mall of Arabia will have 10,000,000 square feet of leasable shop space, surpassing the previous title holder for Largest Mall in the World. If you don't feel like you want your shopping experience to end, you can plan on staying in one of the rooftop hotels that will be included. How's that for shopping convenience? Ten thousand parking spaces and the world's largest Starbucks coffee shop will round out the outrageous shopping experience.

No.4 - Falconcity of Wonders
Wouldn't you like to see all the ancient and modern wonders of the world in one place? Look no farther than Dubai's Falcon City of Wonders. They've decided to make replicas of the Seven Wonders of the World and throw in landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa for good measure. Ever thought the Eiffel Tower was a tad bit boring? Sure, we all have. That's why Dubai is going to make it bigger, encase it in glass and turn it into a luxury hotel in the city center. Why is it called Falcon City? Well, if you happen to be on the International Space Station, it'll look just like a falcon. They broke ground in 2008.

No.5 - Al Maktoum International Airport
Take the largest commuter airport in the world, combine it with the largest freight hub in the world, and then triple it. That's the plan for Dubai's new international airport. This sprawling complex in the heart of the new city center will feature six parallel runways for non-stop service with the world's newest and largest aircrafts, including the Airbus A380. Parking won't be a problem with 100,000 parking spaces. Completion is expected in 2017, at which time the airport is expected to accommodate 70 million passenger

No.6 - Burj Al Alam
It must be a joy to work in the permit office in Dubai. It seems no project receives the green light unless there's some extra flair. Take for example the Burj Al Alam office building and hotel. Expected to be completed in 2010, this hyperboloid skyscraper will be a crystalline flower rising 108 stories out of the desert floor. A Turkish bath and sky garden are going to occupy the top floors (in case you can't get through the day working in the world's most luxurious office space). With 74 floors of office space and 27 floors of luxury penthouses, the Burj Al Alam is another shining example of Dubai's audacious flavor.

No.7 - Dubailand
Tourism is the completely sustainable solution to Dubai's declining oil production. All you need is disposable income and something to see. For the latter, Dubai has it covered. Dubailand, when completed, is going to be the largest theme park on the planet. Costing $70 billion to complete, the park will consist of seven fully themed worlds with 45 mega projects, including another massive $1 billion indoor snow park, and 200 smaller sub projects. Dubailand will dwarf Disney World coming in at twice the size.

No.8 - Dubai Sports City
Why did this massive sports complex need to see the light of day? Dubai is not traditionally known for its dominance in sport. Perhaps to change all that Dubai Sports City is going to contain a world-class 60,000-seat stadium, 25,000-seat cricket grounds, a 10,000-seat indoor arena, a 5,000-seat field hockey stadium, and an 18-hole golf course designed by none other than Ernie Els thrown in for good measure. Coming in at a price tag of more than $4 billion, the rumor was that this facility would serve as a bid to host the 2016 Olympics. Turns out the rumor was false and Dubai didn't even bother to submit a bid. So, then, why did they build this world-class facility? Just to be outrageous of course.

No.9 - Burj Dubai
Financing probably never came into the equation of whether or not to build the Burj Dubai. This skyscraper is currently the tallest man-made structure on the face of the planet. The best part of that distinction is that it's not even finished. When it is finished, Burj Dubai is slated to be 2,684 feet tall. What's even more absurd is that world records in construction had to be set just to build the thing; pumping concrete more than 1,900 vertical feet is no small task. When you see this crystal spire, you know that they are going to touch the face of God and set records doing it.

No.10 - Hydropolis
The Hydropolis is a project seemingly dreamed up by pure wonder. Dubai is a fairly small city with a fairly high heat index, but it takes some force of will to decide that you're going to move the entire hotel to the bottom of the ocean. You have to admire that dream. It takes a special breed of man to walk into a board room and present a PowerPoint presentation for an underwater hotel the size of Hyde Park. Lucky for us, after years of delays, the project should finally be ready for your Aquaman fantasies by the end of 2009.