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The world鈥檚 tallest tower opened in Dubai this week under a sky filled with fireworks 鈥� and amid deepening gloom about its commercial prospects.

Although Emaar, the tower鈥檚 developer, says it has sold 90% of the available space, property professionals say the building could be half empty for a year as Dubai鈥檚 financial downturn continues.

Jess Downs, director of research and advisory services at property agent Landmark Advisory, Dubai, said: 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 expect occupancy to go above 50% in the first six to 12 months.鈥�

Others sniped at the decision to change the tower鈥檚 name on the day it opened, from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa. The change honours Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi. The assumption was that this was a humiliation concession extracted from Dubai in exchange for a $25bn loan from Abu Dhabi.

Others disagreed. Tom Barry, chief executive of Arabtec, which was one of the three main contractors on the tower, said: 鈥淭his is no humiliation for Dubai. It is about Emaar honouring the ruler of the UAE, who also happens to be the ruler of Abu Dhabi.鈥�

Those at the ceremony agreed it was spectacular. Bill Baker, a structural engineer on the project and a partner in American architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said: 鈥淎s a structural engineer, to see fire coming out of your building is pretty shocking.鈥�

Not everyone was so impressed with the building itself. Ian Simpson, the architect the UK鈥檚 own tallest residential scheme, the Beetham Tower in Manchester, criticised the design for its 鈥渂landness鈥�.