Don't live in a high rise??(at least not more than five floors up). Why is the UAE so enamored of high rises? I would think that there would be plenty of buildable land...
An influx of oil money and western-enamored leaders (Sheik Kalifa - UAE, and Sheik Mohammed - Dubai) who took power in the mid '00s. Sky scrapers, like the Empire State Building or the Burj Khalifa, are a source of civic bragging rights.