Burj Khalifa was designed to be the centerpiece of a large - scale, mixed - use development to include 30,000 homes, nine hotels (including The Address Downtown Dubai), 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12 - hectare (30 - acre) artificial Burj Khalifa Lake. The decision to build Burj Khalifa was reportedly based on the government 's decision to diversify from an oil - based economy to one that is service and tourism based. According to officials, it was necessary for projects like Burj Khalifa to be built in order to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational, '' said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties. The tower was known as Burj Dubai ("Dubai Tower '') until its official opening in January 2010. It was renamed in honour of the ruler of Abu Dhabi the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Abu Dhabi and the federal government of UAE lent Dubai tens of billions of US dollars so that Dubai could pay its debts -- Dubai borrowed at least $80 billion for construction projects. In the 2000s, Dubai started diversifying its economy but it suffered from an economic crisis in 2007 -- 2010, leaving large - scale projects already in construction abandoned.
what is the use of the burj khalifa
to be the centerpiece of a large - scale, mixed - use development in order to garner more international recognition, and hence investment