superlativation

"There's the tallest building in the world under construction, Burj Dubai (...). A billboard the size of Piccadilly Circus (...) The biggest shopping mall in the world is already here. Another, bigger, the world's largest retail development, is under construction. There's to be an underwater hotel ($500m). One indoor ski resort, with real snow and its own black run, exists already (...). There is to be a second, with a revolving mountain. Plans are mooted for a Chess City, with 32 tower blocks of 64 floors, each in the form of a chess piece. There's to be a 60-floor apartment block in the shape of Big Ben. One company selling flats is giving away a free Jag with each one. There will be a pyramid and a building called Atlantis that will cost $600m and include a "swim-with-the-dolphins encounter programme". An Aviation City and a Cargo Village, an Aid City and a Humanitarian Free Zone, an Exhibition City and a Festival City, a Healthcare City and a Flower City, a $4bn extension to the airport and another entirely new airport along the coast towards Abu Dhabi (...) annual capacity 120 million passengers, 12 million tonnes of cargo.Next to it (...) "There will be several smaller cities that will cater to the financial, industrial, service and tourism industries." (...) The Middle East's answer to Disneyland, called Dubailand, which is far larger than Monaco, is costing $4.5bn. It will employ 300,000 people in the various joylands, servicing 15 million visitors. A new urban railway, with 37 stops, begins construction soon. Dubai is to have its own Silicon Oasis ($1.7bn) for computer companies. A mixed development called Dubai Waterfront/Arabian Canal covers an area larger than Barbados and will house, when completed ($6bn), more people than Paris."
The Guardian, February 13, 2006
In Al Manach