Nakheel Tower
Dubai planned a tower more than a kilometre tall, redesigned it repeatedly, then stopped when its developer's finances seized up.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Never Born
- Peak stage
- detailed preproduction
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
A proposed kilometre-plus skyscraper in Dubai developed by Nakheel through several sites and names.
The scheme evolved from Al Burj into a multi-core vertical city intended to surpass the world's tallest building. Engineering studies and ground investigation advanced, but the final tower never entered sustained construction.
Existence timeline
Nakheel begins exploring an exceptionally tall Dubai tower.
The proposal moves and undergoes major redesign.
A kilometre-plus multi-core scheme is formally presented.
Ground studies and technical development move ahead.
The financial crisis stops the tower before sustained construction.
Why it ended
Nakheel placed the project on hold during the 2009 financial crisis and it was not revived.
Last confirmed trace
Engineering presentations, design renderings and foundation-study records document its changing form.
What it left behind
The tower marks the upper limit of Dubai's pre-crisis height race and the difference between a technically studied megatall and a deliverable one.
How we classified it
The proposed archive unit never reached ordinary public access in the form being documented.
The strongest verified milestone maps to detailed_preproduction under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.