Dubai is a city of innovation, imagination and virtually unlimited capital, with a habit of smashing world records for everything from the most expensive building to the first artificially conceived camel. It seems like nothing is ever too big, too ambitious or too silly to add to Dubai’s long list of firsts, whether we’re talking about the very latest technology (like actual functioning RoboCops) or something a little more dangerous (like driving through pits of crocodiles.) These 10 examples from the past three years alone prove that Dubai is simply the World’s First Biggest Tallest Fastest and maybe Weirdest city of the modern era.

World’s Largest Picture Frame

The Dubai Frame is a golden 492-foot (150 meter) structure rising out of Dubai’s Zabeel Park with the exact shape you’d expect given its name. Not only does it frame views of the city’s skyline, including iconic buildings like the mega-tall Burj Khalifa, it’s inhabitable. The horizontal section at the top is a viewing bridge with glass floors, and the ground floor features a museum that tells the story of Dubai. Considering that gigantic picture frames aren’t exactly an architectural norm, it’s probably safe from competition in its unofficial “World’s Largest Picture Frame” title for a while. (They also call it the “World’s Best New Attraction,” which is just a tad more more subjective.)

World’s Tallest Tower by Santiago Calatrava at Dubai Creek Harbor

Once complete in 2020, Santiago Calatrava’s Tower at Dubai Creek Harbor will officially best the Burj Khalifa as the tallest tower in the world – for now, at least. Currently under construction, the tower integrates “traditional Islamic architecture with cutting-edge design, engineering and sustainability elements,” and it will contain three public observation decks, event spaces, rotating balconies and a cafe. At the very top, the “Pinnacle Room” will offer 360-degree views of the city along with VIP Observation Garden Decks. It’ll soar 3,045 feet into the air, while the current title holder, the Burj Khalifa, tops out at 2,722 feet. But don’t worry, the Burj Khalifa (shown here peeking out of the clouds beside the new tower in a rendering) still has some reigning world firsts of its own to reveal.

World’s Largest LED Screen at the World’s Tallest Building

The facade of the Burj Khalifa got a high-tech makeover in 2015, making it the world’s largest LED screen. The screen covers an area of over 355,200 square feet (33,000 square meters) and required 10,000 connectors and nearly 45 miles (72 kilometers) of cabling to secure it. The videos above give a behind-the-scenes look at how it was installed, along with a demonstration of what it can do.

World’s First Floating Underwater Luxury Resort

Dubai is already home to artificial island resorts in complex shapes, some of which were delayed or never completed, along with various underwater hotels like the Resort Atlantis on Palm Island and a series of floating retreats. But nothing has ever quite reached the scale of “The Floating Venice,” which is described by its developers the Kleindienst Group as “the world’s first underwater luxury vessel resort.” Designed to mimic the real city of Venice, it can house up to 3,000 guests at a time, and offers transparent swimming pools with views of coral reefs, floating beaches and 12 restaurants and bars (three of which are underwater.)

World’s First Hover Taxis

In 2017, Dubai announced that it would be launching hover taxis for public use. Though it doesn’t look like they’ve made that happen quite yet, the city’s transport authority has tested out a number of these driverless drones in public spaces. Passengers will program their destinations on the ground and then reportedly zoom around 1,000 feet in the air at speeds of up to 60mph in a Chinese vehicle called the EHang 184. Designed to help with traffic woes, the flying taxi system joins another ambitious project in the making that could revolutionize the way people commute in the city.

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Only In Dubai 10 Wild Dazzling Absurd Record Breaking Projects

Edging out the record-holding Burj Khalifa by just a hair, the world’s tallest tower is set to rise into the Dubai skies by 2020 as the crown jewel of a new waterfront development. Neofuturist starchitect Santiago Calatrava, known for dramatic sweeping structures with complex engineering, won an international competition to design the as-yet-unnamed superstructure offering panoramic vistas of the city in February, and new images and details have just been released.

Taking design inspiration from the contours of a lily flower, the tower features Calatrava’s signature illuminated cables stretching from its length to the floor of the plaza. Floor after floor of luxury boutique hotel rooms lead higher and higher into the air, topped with the ‘pinnacle room’ observation space. Lushly planted decks envisioned as recreations of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon offer additional views.

The shimmering spire is meant to be a landmark for Dubai Creek Harbour, a new district that developers hope will become a trendy new residential and leisure destination for the city, and a new tourist attraction completed in time for the Expo 2020. It’s a flashy addition to Dubai’s many flashy projects, from those that have actually been built to those that have been squashed and abandoned. Calatrava calls it “a symbol of an abiding belief in progress.’

Since so many of Dubai’s announced projects never actually get off the ground, it remains to be seen whether this tower will end up snatching the crown from the 2,722-foot-tall Burj Khalifa, a mega-tall skyscraper completed in 2009 as part of another large-scale mixed-use development.

Known for its extravagance and disdain for rational limits, Dubai never shies away from incredibly ambitious architectural projects – but when they fail, as they often do, the result is a whole lot of sandy half-excavated construction sites. But along with the rest of the United Arab Emirates, this hub of vast oil and gas fortunes is in a state of constant flux, with a rapidly changing landscape that can transform from a swath of desert to a strip of glittering skyscrapers in what seems like no time at all.

Lots of Luxury Vehicles

More than 3,000 abandoned luxury vehicles were counted in Dubai in a single year, left behind, as the story goes, when expats fled the nation to escape debts after the economy crashed. One such vehicle was a limited edition Ferrari Enzo, worth more than $1.65 million. Others include $100K Range Rovers, Porches, BMWs and Mercedes. Photographs show them covered in dust and sand, sometimes haphazardly protected with tarps. Under Sharia law, non-payment of debt is a criminal offense, and foreigners have been prevented from leaving the Emirates for missing a single credit card payment or bouncing a check. But according to Business Insider, it’s not just expats fleeing financial repercussions. Locals bought cars they couldn’t afford, and then struggled to make the payments. On the plus side, bargain hunters have gotten some insane deals on the cars when they’re re-sold at rock-bottom prices at police auctions.

Ongoing Wastelands of Stalled Construction Projects

Dubai itself and the surrounding areas often have large tracts of land that look like wastelands of sand and abandoned construction equipment thanks to countless projects that are started and then put on hold for financial reasons. At any given time, there are thousands of such sites in various stages of progress, and while some eventually pick back up and are completed, others stay like this for years or are eventually scrapped. Nakheel Tower, pictured top, was meant to be the centerpiece of Dubai’s famous man-made Palm Islands, and the site had been cleared and leveled before the project was canceled in 2009. Another project, the Burj Al Alam, suffered a similar fate, with trucks finally bringing in loads of sand to refill areas that had been excavated after developers decided not to go forward with the 108-story tower.

World’s Largest Artificial Islands On Hold and Sinking

Dubai’s artificial islands, including the Palm Islands, the World and the Universe, were intended to be the ultimate in luxury possessions, sold only to millionaires who could afford the hefty price tags and the yachts required to reach them. While a few of them have already been developed, with residents beginning to move in, others have sat in a state of partial completion since construction began in 2001. The 2008 financial crisis led developers to pull back from actively working on the project, and by 2011, some of the islands began sinking into the sea. Despite the developers’ denials, third-party inspectors confirmed that the islands were already eroding, and aerial photographs show that those intended to make up the shapes of the world map are becoming little more than a patchwork of rounded blobs.

Jebel Ali Village And Its Namesake Palm Island

Jebel Ali Village, built outside Dubai i 1977, was a settlement of about 300 villas for expatriates along with schuss, a club, a park, medical clinics and a desalination water plant. It didn’t have its own supermarket, requiring residents to make a long, hot drive without air conditioning all the way to Dubai to purchase supplies back when Abu Dhabi Road was a single-lane unlit carriageway used by camels as well as vehicles. By 2011, the once-treasured community was entirely abandoned. One of the artificial islands built off the coast of Dubai was named in its honor, but that project has been put on hold, leading to even more abandonments with the Jebel Ali name. The monolithic structures pictured above were built as part of a flyover going to Jebel Ali Palm Island, but as construction was halted, they’ve just been left like this, looking like a row of ancient ruins. But as with many other projects in Dubai, they’re in transition – the village is being rebuilt.

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Derelict Dubai 7 Sandy Abandoned Wonders Of The Uae

Twenty-one years ago, Dubai was a desert. It sprang up seemingly from nothing into the lively and technologically advanced world-class city that it is today. This is just one example of the dramatic speeds with which cities can change, sometimes rendering their skylines virtually unrecognizable within decades.

Shanghai, China – 1990 and 2010

(images via: imgur)

Given the dramatic, jaw-dropping difference between these two images, you might be tempted to think that the top one was taken sometime in the middle of the 20th century. You’d be wrong. That image is from 1990. Shanghai is a stunning example of just how fast cities can rise up into bustling modern metropolises.

Dubai – 1990, 2003, 2007

(images via: abdolian)

These three photographs depict the same street in Dubai, progressing from a few lone buildings in the desert to the jam-packed, seemingly perpetually-under-construction ode to excess that it is today. As a matter of fact, that most recent photo was taken in 2007, and the street has undoubtedly changed even more now. Imagine what it would look like if the recession hadn’t slowed down the frantic pace of development!

Bangkok, Thailand – 1988 and 2007

(images via: forum.skyscraperpage.com)

In 19 years, the view of the skyline from this end of Bangkok’s Lumpini Park underwent quite a transformation, blossoming with high-rises even while the greenery in the foreground stayed mostly the same.

Panama City, Panama – 1930 and 2009

(images via: skyscraper city, brian gratwicke)

Panama City is one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the world, and these two photographs show a sharp contrast between two eras. The city sprouts from a quiet village into one of the fastest-growing urban areas in Central America.

London, England – 1970s and 2006

(images via: skyscraper city)

London has gained a number of high-profile, flashy modern buildings in the years that have passed since the 1970s. These four images depicting the banks of the Thames then and now, and a few glittering examples of modern architecture stand out, including City Hall and 30 St. Mary Axe (known as ‘the gherkin’), both by architecture firm Foster and Partners.

Tokyo, Japan – 1960s and 2010

(images via: japan sugoi)

The rapid rise of Tokyo is certainly evident when comparing two images of Tokyo Tower, one taken soon after the tower was built in 1958 and the other captured in 2010. Once nestled into a landscape of traditional Japanese buildings and trees, the tower remains an eye-catching landmark, but its surroundings couldn’t be more different. Below that, an incredible time-lapse video shows the evolution of the Shinjuku district over 35 years.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – 1954 and 2008

Urban Age :: São Paulo Film from OutrosFilmes on Vimeo.

Even in 1954, you could get a feel for just how large of a city Sao Paulo would one day become – as in, largest-city-in-the-southern hemisphere huge. It’s also the world’s 7th largest metropolitan area, with nearly 20 million inhabitants. These two videos capture the realities of the city in two very different eras.

Atlanta, Georgia – 1964 and 2004

(images via: atlanta time machine)

The view of Atlanta from the North Avenue bridge over the interstate has evolved dramatically since 1964, as downtown development has spread further and further out from the epicenter of the city. This southern city is notorious for its urban sprawl, partially due to the fact that it has no geographic boundaries like waterways or mountains to keep the city’s size in check.

Las Vegas, Nevada – 1954 and 2009

(images via: photosfan)

It didn’t happen quite as quickly, but the changes in Las Vegas – evident here on the Las Vegas Strip – are almost as mind-boggling as those in Dubai. The gambling mecca of the Nevada desert went from a mere stopover on the pioneer trail in the 19th century to a popular gambling destination in the 1930s before shooting up into the neon metropolis it is today.

Paris, France – 1900, 1960 and 2006

(images via: oddee, skyscraper city)

Paris is the kind of classic city where you don’t expect to see Shanghai-style, blink-of-an-eye changes. As it is in many historic districts around the world, in over a century, little has changed in the top Paris images other than the growth of trees. That’s not true everywhere in the city, however. The bottom two images show the same view of the business district of the city in 1960 and 2006 (with a rendering of the controversial as-yet-unbuilt Phare Tower, the tallest building), with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

New York, New York – 1954, 1985, 2009

(images via: eralsoto, wikimedia commons)

Wouldn’t you think that the Midtown Manhattan skyline would have changed more than this over six decades? In 1954, many of the buildings that still define the skyline today were already in place. While it’s clear that many buildings sprouted up by the time the second photo was taken in 1985, it’s not a dramatic change, and even less so between then and 2009.

Shenzhen, China

(images via: skyscraper city)

The fastest-growing city in China (and possibly the world) was nothing but a tiny fishing village as recently as the 1979. An influx of foreign investment spurred growth so rapid, the city seemed to change every single day. Today it’s a boomtown with 12 million residents. See the whole 25-year progression at Skyscraper City.