Sheikh Zayed Road showcase modern architecture in Dubai

Written by Aidan O'Rourke
2006-10-11

Sheikh Zayed Road is the main highway south from Dubai towards the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Up till not so long ago, as soon as you were around 15km (10 miles) south of Dubai, you were driving through mostly empty desert.

Today that empty desert is being turned into a vast new city.

When I first arrived in Dubai in 1992, Sheikh Zayed Road had a few low-rise apartment buildings on either side. And then in the late 90s, taller buildings started to appear

Some of the most prominent buildings on Sheikh Zayed Road include:

Once a 24 hour free-flowing highway, Sheikh Zayed Road is nowadays clogged up bumper to bumper with traffic jams at peak times, particularly after 6pm.

It's a magnificent part of Dubai, and like something out of the 1920's science fiction film Metropolis, though the cars don't move as freely as in the movie.

The highway is named after Sheikh Zayed, who became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and was President of the UAE from 1971 until his death in 2004.

Click here to view all Sheikh Zayed Road photos

2006-10-11