'The World's Tallest Building' Burj Khalifa may be replaced by Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower by 1 kilometer

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The Burj Khalifa in United Arab Emirates' city of Dubai does not just loftily stands over the skyline in the region, but also towers above every other skyscraper in the world. With its imposing height of 2,716 feet or 827 meters, the prominent architectural wonder currently holds the distinction of being the world's tallest.

However, UAE's neighboring country, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, may just have something to say about that. The Saudi Arabia government announced, via a press release on their website, that they have now initiated the funding of the Jeddah Economic City and Jeddah Tower projects located in the sea bay of Obhur from the western region of the country.

The developer Jeddah Economic Company and Saudi Arabia's Alinma Investment have inked a deal amounting to SAR8.4 billion or $2.24 billion to fund the tower and other real estate projects within the proposed economic city.

The Jeddah Tower, which is also called the Kingdom Tower, will surpass the height of the Burj Khalifa upon its expected completion in 2020. Apart from snatching the Guinness World records as the tallest building, it will also be the first building to date to measure one kilometer in height.

According to the Huffington Post, the tower will overlook the Red Sea and will be erected to accommodate a hotel, offices, and apartments within its 170-story frame. It will also feature the world's highest observation deck on its 157th floor.

For the time being, 26 floors of the tower built over an area of 85,000 square meters were already completed. And, Mounib Hammoud, Chief Executive Officer of Jeddah Economic Company, said that he now expects the project to be finished on time since the funding agreement was already secured.

"With this deal, we will reach new, as yet unheard of highs in real estate development, and will fulfill the company's objective of creating a world-class urban center that offers an advanced lifestyle, so that Jeddah may have a new iconic landmark that attracts people from all walks of society with comprehensive services and a multitude of uses," said Hammoud.

The Telegraph reported that the design of the Jeddah Tower came from Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which was inspired by the folded fronds of young desert plant growth. The firm said that "the way the fronds sprout upward from the ground as a single form, then start separating from each other at the top, is an analogy of new growth fused with technology."