Even though the monumental Burj Dubai isn't complete, it currently stacks up at a colossal 707 metres - a quarter taller than the world's current leader, the Taipei 101.

And when it is finished, it could top 850 metres, complete with a mast, making it the tallest free-standing structure in human history.

The previous record holder - prior to it falling down in 1991 - was the Warsaw Radio Mast, which the Burj Dubai should finally dwarf by a full 200 metres.

Currently under construction in the Business Bay district of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupation in September next year.

Having smashed the world record for height, it's only elementary that the rest of the glory for architectural feats will follow.

It is now the building with the most floors, at 160, which is 50 more than the Sears Tower in Chicago or the former World Trade Centre.

And it's also the leader for the highest pumping of concrete - not surprisingly, perhaps.

But the Burj is just one facet of the cultural jewel that Dubai is aspiring to be.

It merely forms the centerpiece of an even more enormous, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, three hectares of parkland, and at least 19 residential towers.

To cap it off there will be the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare man-made Burj Dubai Lake.

And that's not to mention the Palm Islands off the coast, which form the largest man-made sea-reclamation sites in the world.

There are currently three in development - the Palm Jumeira, the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira.

They are so large, they can even be seen from space.