Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holding Company, headed by Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, is going ahead with its plan to build a 1.6-kilometre-high tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
The tallest tower in the world when completed, already informally dubbed the mile-high tower, will be double the height of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which is currently the world's tallest man-made structure.
The mile-high tower overlooking the Red Sea will be built on an area of 3.5 million square meters in the Obhur Gulf, 20 kilometres north of the Jeddah city centre and not far away from Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport.
According to official information issued by the company, a city to be constructed around the tower will sprawl over an area of 23 million square metres at a total investment of $26.6 billion. The city will have the capacity to accommodate 80,000 people in addition to shopping and entertainment facilities. It will have hospitality facilities catering for up to a million visitors.
Although the plan was put forth in 2008, it has just recently been given the approval to begin construction.
Random fact: It will take 12 minutes to get to the top in an elevator.
