Burj Dubai (1), a tower under construction in the United Arab Emirates' trade hub (2), became the tallest building in the world on Saturday, measuring 512.1 metres, its developer said.

"Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which at 508 metres has held the tallest-building-in-the-world title since it opened in 2004," Emaar Properties, which is developing the Dubai tower, said in a statement.

"Burj Dubai has now reached 141 storeys, more storeys than any other building in the world."

The developer wants the tower, set to be completed next year, to be the world's tallest building according to all four criteria listed by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which measures buildings to the structural top, the highest occupied floor, the top of the roof and the tip of the spire or flagpole.

Emaar did not say how tall the finished building will be.

Once completed, Burj Dubai will have consumed 330,000 cubic metres of concrete (3), 39,000 tonnes of steel and 142,000 square metres of glass, Emaar said. It will have 56 lifts travelling at 1.75 to 10 metres per second.

The tower will be the centrepiece of a $20 billion development that will include residential, commercial and retail property.

Dubai, the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub, has embarked on a series of mega-projects (4) in recent years, developing three palm-shaped (5) islands off its coast and a cluster of (6) man-made islands shaped like a map of the world.

位于阿联酋贸易中心的在建的“迪拜塔”的开发商在星期六称：高512.1米的迪拜塔是世界上最高的建筑。

迪拜塔的开发商埃玛尔地产酒店集团表示说：“迪拜塔比台湾的台北101高，高508米的台北101于2004年投入使用，一直以来都被誉为是世界最高的建筑。”

“迪拜塔有141层楼，比起世界上的任何其他建筑，迪拜塔的楼层是最多的。”

开发商计划在明年建成这座世界最高的迪拜塔，并参照芝加哥高楼与都市住宅委员会所列出的所有四项标准。这些标准包括测量建筑高度、被使用的最高楼层、建筑物顶端和旗杆顶部。

艾玛尔地产酒店体团并没有表明完成之后的建筑高度到底是多少。

据艾玛尔地产酒店体团称，迪拜塔的完工将消耗33万立方米的混凝土，3.9万吨钢筋和14.2平方米的玻璃。另外，还有56部电梯以每秒1.75到10米的速度运行。

迪拜塔是一座中心建筑，合周围的一些住宅、商业和零售业的建筑，总价值20亿美元。

作为阿拉伯湾贸易和旅游的中心，近年来，迪拜已经见证了一系列重要工程的落成完工，在其海岸上修建了三座棕榈形状的小岛，和一群人工小岛，形似世界地图。