YOU crane your neck a lot in Dubai. Everything is mesmerising, larger-than-life and over the top. No matter where you stand, there is always a crane in the area.

The emirate is an contractor's dream. Fuelled by ambitions to break construction world records at a breakneck pace, there are at least 700 multi-storey buildings being built round the clock.

Every day, the skyline, especially along the city's main artery Sheikh Zayed Road, changes. Every week, the Burj Dubai - which will be the world's tallest mall and office building at around 700m tall when it is ready in 2008 - grows by one more floor.

Dubai's retail motto seems to be: If it is worth doing, it is worth doing big - bigger than anyone else.

An all-out war of superlatives is raging.

Mall Of The Emirates, which opened three months ago in Al Barsha, was all set to be the world's biggest mall until plans for the even bigger Dubai Mall were announced.

A five-million sq ft shopping colossus, The Dubai Mall, which will be ready next year, will boast the world's biggest indoor aquarium and an Olympic-style skating ring.

When it opens, the mall, with eight times the floor space of Suntec City, will be the largest in the world.

But not for long. Hot on its heels is the mother of all malls, the 10-million sq ft Mall of Arabia, which will open for business in 2008.

It is part of the phenomenal Dubailand project, billed as the planet's 'biggest tourism, leisure and entertainment attraction'.

The mall will be connected to a dinosaur theme park built in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of London, the region's largest zoo, an indoor artificial rainforest, a modern art gallery, sports stadiums and even a Manchester United Soccer School.

WAR OF SUPERLATIVES

RETAIL one-upmanship in Dubai is frighteningly intense.

In the next four years alone, Dubai's current 6.4 million sq ft of shopping space will jump almost fivefold to 29 million sq ft.

There are now about 40 malls around Dubai, a quarter of them mega complexes with entertainment options.

And if they build malls, they will inevitably brag.

Superlatives like skyscrapers seem to be part of the civic psyche here.

Ibn Battuta Mall bills itself as Dubai's 'biggest themed mall'.

The Egyptian-styled BurJuman Centre prides itself as having 'the biggest collection of luxury brands under one roof'.

Wafi City Mall, with its pyramid atrium roofs and haute couture shops, strives for 'the most opulent and elegant shopping in Dubai' title.

Mercato Mall, fashioned like a Venice-meets-Tuscany marketplace (it couldn't decide which), styles itself as the 'first and only themed Renaissance mall in the Middle East'.

Deira City Centre, a little older but still bustling, is 'the most popular mall'.

Practically everything else was built mere months ago.

The malls all reek of fresh paint, gilt and gimmickry.

Other than size, there is an inordinate fondness for taking themes to extremes and replicating architectural marvels.

The recently-opened Ibn Battuta Mall, adjacent to Sheikh Zayed Road between interchanges 5 and 6, was named after the 14th-century Muslim geographer.

The mall's theme is built around the six regions - China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia - that the explorer visited.

It hires a couple of full-time 'edutainers' such as South African Greg Parves, 24, whose job is to dress up in ancient robes and offer guided tours through the 1.3km-long mall. The China Court, for example, features a life-size Chinese junk, dragon carvings and calligraphy hangings.

The look, like that of Mercato Mall, is distinctly Vegas - loud, brash and screaming of money.

There are fake blue cloudy sky ceilings that evoke the shopping arcades of Caesar's Palace. No windows and no sense of night and day, so you just keep on strolling and spending in this nicely-chilled, timeless, tax-free Arabian fantasy land.

But apart from tourists' jaws dropping and cameras snapping non-stop, you have to wonder how they intend to convert gawkers into buyers.

There is little follow-through of its architectural themes into other aspects of retailing such as merchandising.

ENTER SIGNATURE STORES

MOST of the malls are stocked with uninspired and generic luxury brands which are falling over themselves these days to put in a guest appearance in Dubai.

They are not just charging in to build concept stores or flagship stores but are setting up signature stores. According to Mr Frederick Douglas, general manager of leasing for The Dubai Mall, the emirate is now seen as the place to 'represent your brand to the world' as it is home to three of the largest world malls.

Coming soon to Dubai Mall, for example, is a Zegna Kids signature store, where 'children can role-play and dress up as policemen or farmers in a supervised environment' while their rich parents from Saudi Arabia or Lebanon pick out expensive togs for them.

Dubai's tax-free status has also attracted a good range of exciting mid-priced Spanish brands not yet available in Singapore, such as Promod, Bershka, Trucco and Zara Home. But as most are Western franchises, the malls are left bereft of local identity.

A few hints that you are in Dubai come from the frankincense fumes that permeate the malls, the armed guards outside each store and prayer rooms in every annex. Each mall also has a smattering of traditional tailors specialising in head-to-toe abayas for women and men's long white dish-dash robes and shops selling figs more expensive than Godiva's finest truffles.

The other tell-tale sign is taste. Singapore shoe store chains prettyFIT and Charles & Keith all stock their flashiest, most rhinestone-studded shoes there. The evening wear favoured by Middle Eastern women under their billowy abayas also veers towards tassels, sequins and ostentation.

In a land where people rear pet cheetahs, subtlety has never been a strong suit. Dubai is famous for its near-vulgar lucky draw prizes for shoppers.

Spend just 200 dirhams (S$90) and you can win a brand-new Lexus, a condominium, a three-carat diamond, 100kg of gold and even 10 million dirhams in routine draws and giveaways.

Ms Sabina Khandwani, head of research and marketing at BurJuman Centre, says: 'Promotions here are very aggressive. 'Buy one get one free' comes very naturally when you talk. Supermarkets give cars very regularly. It's very natural for every store to have an offer. Now, even one million dirhams is nothing.'

The discounts during the great sale from December to February are also enormous, with 50 to 70 per cent off the usual prices.

Mr Saeed Al Nabouda, CEO of Dubai Shopping Festival, says: 'That's the ultimate dream of every shopper. A red carpet welcome, big discounts, best bargains for every product, US$25 million (S$40 million) worth of lucky draw prizes and a beautiful environment with a happy glittering setting.'

Since the festival started 10 years ago, he notes, visitor spending has tripled from 2.2 billion dirhams in 1996 to 6.75 billion dirhams in 2005, fuelled mostly by repeat Arab visitors.

Not content with its neighbourhood, Dubai wants to take on the larger world. And it is pinning its high hopes on its next-generation malls.

Other than its two-thirds expatriate population - mostly single, newly-relocated recreational shoppers - and its wealthy local population with high disposable incomes, it is counting on 30 to 50 per cent of mall receipts coming from tourists.

According to Mr Hamad Mohammed Mejren, manager of inward missions at the Department Of Tourism And Commerce Marketing, the retail industry, which now accounts for 18 per cent of GDP, is expected to grow to 50 per cent by 2009.

When oil, which now accounts for 7 per cent of its economy, runs out within the next 10 years, it expects tourism - which already contributes 18 per cent - to step up.

And when its third airport terminal is up this year, Dubai will have the capacity to handle more than 70 million passengers each year from 145 destinations.

Compared to only 700,000 who chose to stay in its hotels in 1991, 5.5 million did so in 2003, staying an average of 2.7 days. The city currently has one of the highest average room occupancy rates worldwide of about 81 per cent.

TOO HIGH-END FOR OWN GOOD?

COULD Dubai be aiming too high and succeed in only attracting luxury shoppers?

Mr Saeed is upfront: 'We focus on those with high purchasing power, we don't want Europeans who spend the day at the beach and go to the bar at night and spend little money.'

Of its estimated 36,200 hotel rooms, a third are in the five-star category. Each room, especially if you visit in the cooler months after Ramadan, costs S$1,000 or more a night. Something three-star will set you back at least S$500 a night.

Dining is about 30 per cent more expensive than in Singapore. Food court meals set you back by at least S$15 per person. Iced tea in cafes costs about S$8.

Taxi fares are close to European rates, with the pick-up fare at the airport a high 20 dirhams. Walking is no option because of the vast distances, heat and dust.

But pricing itself out of the market and narrowly focusing on high-end shoppers could prove its downfall. With its small population of 1.3 million, analysts say it already has four times as much shopping area per capita as the US.

With even greater expansion on the way, over-supply troubles could be heading its way, with so many mega malls fighting for the same tenants.

While the hardware is up to mark, the software lags behind.

At the Massimo Dutti boutique at Mall Of The Emirates, we bought a belt and a shirt which were tossed unceremoniously into the carrier bag. No tissue wrapping, no deferential handing over of the goods, no 'thank you'.

Same thing at Zara, Promod and elsewhere, where the service is perfunctory at best, churlish at worst.

At the Gold Souk in old Deira, a vendor scornfully declares after some unsuccessful haggling over an anklet: 'Maybe it's too expensive for you, but it's not for us.'

With demand as yet still outstripping supply and a constant stream of foreign contingents heading there to study its success, Dubai bristles with impudence, not unlike a famous char kway teow seller whose business is too good to warrant thoughtful service.

Yet, whenever the topic of service comes up, Dubai's bureaucrats' benchmarks are too modest. They keep pointing out that the emirate's service standards outshine those in the rest of the Middle East. And bid you once again to admire their cavernous, tall, shiny and interactive malls.

Dubai has already proved it can do big. Does it have to keep proving it can do bigger? How about better, for a change?

WHERE TO GO

• Gold Souk, Old Deira
  Jostle with hordes of haggling Arab and Indian women at this souk, chock-a-block with 600 shops crammed with 24-carat gold necklaces, trinkets and ingots.
   
  Stroll over to the neighbouring Spice Souk, a treasure trove of Arabic fragrances and seasonings. The narrow lanes are filled with open sacks of cloves, cardamom, incense and nuts.

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• Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Madinat Jumeirah, next to Burj Al Arab
  Meandering cobble paths in this lovingly-recreated traditional souk lead you through a maze of souvenir stores, cafes and galleries.
   
  There is a collection of 75 quaint shops there.
   
  At night, you can sit on the patio, suck on apple-flavoured shishas and gaze at the lit-up Burj Al Arab in the horizon.
   
  A Disneyland for adults.

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• Global Village, Dubailand, along Emirates Road
  Possibly the world's biggest pasar malam, the tradesmen and touts of 39 countries from Afghanistan to Rwanda congregate here to peddle their wares.
   
  Probably the only place in the world where you can find a Nepalese shawl, Japanese bonsai, Canadian maple syrup, Kenyan carving, German sandals and a Singapore window cleaner - all together.

EXPERT SAYS

'Dubai definitely wows with its world's biggest themed malls and the new benchmarks it is setting in iconic retailing. It impresses especially first-time goers with its hardware
 
After grabbing shoppers' attention through physical infrastructure, it's critical for them to extend the wow into the retailing experience, because retailing is a people-relationship game, not a building game.
 
Also building mega malls, only to be filled with international brands already available in the rest of Asia, puts it at risk of being a 'been there, done that' destination. Why travel so far for Starbucks? Also, the longer flight time, coupled with exorbitant accommodation and hot weather, is a drawback for Asian tourist shoppers.' -- Dr Lynda Wee