i'm ducis rodgers.y your day. >>> ones with a fear of heights might want to stay clear of dubai today. the world's tallest building opens today. >> just how tall. lara setrakian reports. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and linsey, today is the grand unveiling of the burj dubai, the world's tallest skyscraper. standing at more than 2,600 feet, the burj dubai has over 160 floors, the world's highest elevator, and enough steel rebar to go a quarter mile around the world. >> you have to give them credit for an engineering feat. and also symbolic. >> reporter: when the tower was first conceived, the city is in different shape, marred in $150 billion of debt, unpaid bills and millions of service providers hired during the peak years. >> it puts dubai on the map in an ironic way because real estate housing downturn is what's responsible for the current economic downcycle. >> reporter: there are have been scores of layoffs. last month, dubai teetered on the brink of default. but that won't stop today's fanfar