Dubai’s oldest tall buildings are relatively young compared to European cities. The first high-rises appeared only in the 1970s when Dubai started transforming from a small trading port into a modern city. Early significant buildings included the Deira Tower (built in 1970) and the Dubai World Trade Centre (completed in 1979), which was the city’s tallest building for a long time.

Before this rapid growth, Dubai was a small fishing village with traditional mud houses and narrow streets. Life revolved around pearl trading and fishing. It was only in the 1960s, after the discovery of oil, that a massive economic boom began, fundamentally changing the city’s landscape and infrastructure.

In the 1990s, the first skyscrapers appeared, not yet comparable to today’s giants, including the Dubai World Trade Centre Tower and Al Reem Tower. The city started to establish itself as a global financial and trading hub, enabling the construction of increasingly taller and more spectacular buildings.