1979: The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) building on Sheikh Zayed Road, the main Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway that links two of the UAE's largest cities.
2020: Skyscrapers stand next to the DWTC building today, while the Dubai Metro's Red Line rolls to Jebel Ali, running parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road.
WAM/AFP
1979: Metropolitan Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road was famed for being one of Dubai’s first hotels.
2020: Metropolitan Hotel closed its doors in 2013 to make way for Al Habtoor City – bringing with it the end of an era, and ushering in a new one.
Gulf News archives and Antonin Kelian Kallouche/Gulf News
1984: View of Sharjah lagoon. Seen in the picture are sailboats in the foreground and the central souq in the horizon.
2020: View of Sharjah from Marbella resort. Seen in the picture are the Flag island, Al Montazah Parks, Souq Al Jubail and central souq.
Gulf News archives and Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
1996: Burj Al Arab hotel under construction, which started in 1994. It took two years to create the island, and then three years to build the hotel itself.
2019: An aerial view of Burj Al Arab hotel. Located 280m off the Dubai shore, the hotel is the third-tallest in the world and stands 321 meters tall.
Gulf News archives and Shutterstock
1997: An aerial view of the construction site of Emirates Towers on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. Construction began in 1996, and the towers opened in 2000.
2020: Emirates Towers, the Museum of the Future and high-rises along Sheikh Zayed Road today.
Gulf News archives and Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
2006: Construction of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest man-made structure, began in 2004. It was completed in 2009 and was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai.
2020: Burj Khalifa- the tallest tower in the world. Burj Khalifa has now become synonymous with the image of Dubai worldwide. The building is the centre of the city’s downtown skyline and has received several accolades and is known as a record-breaking tower.
Gulf News archives and AFP