When the September 11 attacks of 2001 threatened to knock the bottom out of the global air travel market, Dubai’s Emirates airline made the biggest airline order in history, staking out its role as a bridge between east and west.

So the city-state was acting in character this month when, in the face of the global economic storm, two government real estate companies launched massive developments worth Dh500bn (£79bn, $136bn), including a kilometre high skyscraper, despite concerns about the overheating property sector.