But Dubai still has the world’s tallest building.

Japan just opened its tallest tourist attraction yet, the much-anticipated 634 metre tall Skytree tower in Tokyo. It took four years to build, cost 65 million Yen to make, is about twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower, just beats out the 600m tall Canton Tower in China,  and even survived the devastating earthquakes that rocked Japan about a year ago, barely denting its construction schedule.

Ostensibly, it will serve as a broadcast tower, but its triangular base (which is designed to be earthquake resistant) is also surrounded by more than 300 shops and restaurants, a planetarium and an aquarium. There are two observation decks – at 350m and 450m up – which will serve the expected 32 million visitors in the tower’s first year alone. The 2 000 Yen tickets to surge up the elevators and see Tokyo from the sky were booked up months ago, and there aren’t any new spots available until July this year.

Guinness World Records has officially recorded Skytree as the world’s tallest tower, but the world’s tallest structure remains Burj Khalifa, the 828m tall skyscraper in Dubai.

The view from the bottom

[Source: Bloomberg, BBC News, Times LIVE, Guardian]