The sheikdom on the Persian Gulf is developing into the Pearl of the Orient. More than anything, tourism is expected to have a long-term beneficial impact on its economic future. The goal is to entice 15 million tourists a year to this balmy world on the Gulf by 2015. That is triple the number of tourists that visit the Gulf today. Vast numbers of mega-projects are being worked on with unbridled enthusiasm. Evidence of the professional building boom is everywhere. One sixth of all the industrial cranes being used in the world today, are currently in use in Dubai. We have seen pictures of them already, the architectural giants in Dubai: the three «Palms» and «The World», giant island worlds built in the ocean, which have been developed at an unprecedented expense. Or the «Burj al Arab», the one and only seven-star hotel in the world. Or the «Burj Dubai», which, when completed, will be the tallest building in the world at 818 metres high. In this small desert state, another extremely ambitious site is being built, «The Lagoons».