HISTORY >> Skylines History 1920-2007 | The World's Tallest Buildings 1920-2009 | One Century of Skyscrapers | Top skylines since 1999
The World's Best Skylines
-- Skyscraper Cities Ranking List --
by Egbert Gramsbergen and Paul Kazmierczak
=> part of this list also appears in the Almanac of Architecture and Design 2010 <=
About this list
Most of this list was compiled by Paul Kazmierczak. Consulted websites: emporis.con, skyscraperpage.com, skyscrapercity.com, www.skyscrapercenter.com, gaoloumi.com. The 2011 rankings [#] are added in the 1st column for comparison. See Emporis.com's skyline ranking for a similar list made with slightly different rules. Of course, we believe our list is better. See the rules.
Update
Aug 2012: Updated top 53 cities. Quite a few new buildings were included but the city rankings did not change much. Main climbers this year: Abu Dhabi, Incheon, Istanbul, London. For the latest news, rumours and discussion see Skyscrapercity.com.
Video
Watch 3 videos (slide shows) of the top 51 skylines, by Johan Stjern.
Country color codes
 America (North , Central , South) 
Asia (South+East ex. Russia)
Middle East, South-west-Asia
Europe (inc. Russia, Turkey)
   Africa   ,   Australia, Oceania   
World map of skylines
World skylines map
XML
main data of all cities in XML
What are the rules?
This list is an attempt to rank the impressiveness of city skylines. The score of a city is equal to the sum of all building heights (structural height, in m) after substraction of the minimum of 90m/295ft for each building. Freestanding towers (not skyscrapres) count for half their height. Only completed and topped-out buildings are included. [more details]
Why this algorithm?
It measures a mix of height and breath of a skyline which seems to be honest as they are both important for the WOW! factor. Of course, people may think differently about their favorite skylines - see this poll or Luigi Di Serio's Top 15.
next 100 cities >
Ranking
[old]
PointsCITY
update 2007-2010, 2011, 2012
CountryBuildings
>90 m
highest scoring building
(height)
[1] 191383
Hong KongChina3124International Commerce Centre (484m)
[2] 237259
New York (inc Jersey City, Fort Lee, Guttenburg, W New York)USA897One World Trade Center (541m, u/c)
[3] 323668
ShanghaiChina822Shanghai World Financial Center (492m)
[4] 423078
Tokyo (inc Kawaguchi, Kawasaki, Ichikawa)Japan697Mid Town Tower (248m)
[5] 522947
DubaiUAE358Burj Khalifa (828m)
[6] 616884
ChicagoUSA351Willis Tower (442m)
[8] 716529
GuangzhouChina436Guangzhou International Finance Center (440m)
[7] 815936
BangkokThailand513Baiyoke Tower II (304m)
[9] 914096
ShenzhenChina343KK 100 Development (442m)
[11] 1011340
SingaporeSingapore413United Overseas Bank Plaza One (280m)
[10] 1111197
ChongqingChina379Yingli International Finance Centre (288m, u/c)
[12] 1210512
SeoulSouth Korea319Three International Finance Center (284m)
[13] 139290
Kuala Lumpur (inc Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya)Malaysia260Petronas Tower 1 (452m)
[14] 149026
Manila (metro inc. Makati, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, Quezon City)Philippines227Philippine Bank of Communications (259m)
[15] 158481
Panama CityPanama203Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower (293m)
[17] 168011
Toronto (inc Mississauga)Canada273First Bank Tower (298m)
[16] 178005
JakartaIndonesia218Wisma 46 (262m)
[18] 186649
BeijingChina271China World Trade Center Tower 3 (330m)
[20] 196132
NanjingChina119Zifeng Tower (450m)
[19] 206028
Osaka (inc. Sakai, Amagasaka)Japan165Osaka World Trade Center (256m)
[21] 215626
MoscowRussia183Moscow, City of Capitals (302m)
[22] 225462
BusanSouth Korea93Doosan Haeundae We've the Zenith Tower A (300m)
[23] 235028
Miami (inc Miami Beach)USA111Four Seasons Hotel & Tower (240m)
[24] 244997
Houston (inc Pasadena)USA118JPMorganChase Tower (305m)
[25] 254899
Sydney (inc. N. Sydney)Australia142Citigroup Centre (243m)
[29] 264867
TianjinChina95Tianjin Global Financial Center (337m)
[37] 274833
Abu DhabiUAE63The Domain (381m, u/c)
[26] 284628
MumbaiIndia153The Imperial Tower 1 (256m)
[28] 294478
DalianChina118Dalian Futures Square 1 (243m)
[27] 304303
São PauloBrazil309Mirante do Vale (170m)
[45] 314013
Incheon (Seoul metro)South Korea82Northeast Asia Trade Tower (305m)
[40] 324012
IstanbulTurkey118Sapphire (261m)
[30] 333994
WuhanChina171Minsheng Bank Building (331m)
[32] 343870
MacauChina140Grand Lisboa (258m)
[36] 353866
DohaQatar66Aspire Tower (300m)
[31] 363826
Los Angeles (inc Burbank, El Segundo, W Hollywood)USA88US Bank Tower (310m)
[38] 373809
ChengduChina134Tianfu Times Tower (180m)
[33] 383790
MelbourneAustralia110Eureka Tower (297m)
[34] 393597
Atlanta (inc Vinnings, North Atlanta)USA90Bank of America Plaza (317m)
[42] 403429
QingdaoChina83Qingdao International Finance Center (249m)
[35] 413419
San FranciscoUSA102Transamerica Pyramid (260m)
[39] 423369
Taipei (inc Chungho, Panchou, Yungho)Taiwan121Taipei 101 (508m)
[43] 433209
Mexico CityMexico119Torre Mayor (225m)
[41] 442916
Las VegasUSA61Fontainebleau Resort Hotel (T/O on hold) (224m)
[44] 452858
Dallas (inc Las Colinas of Irving)USA69Bank of America Plaza (281m)
[46] 462643
Philadelphia (inc Camden)USA70Comcast Center (297m)
[46] 472638
Paris (inc La Defense & périphérique suburbs)France113Tour First (231m)
[48] 482607
Buenos AiresArgentina119Le Parc Figueroa Alcorta - Torre Cavia (173m)
[49] 492469
CalgaryCanada70The Bow (236m)
[50] 502360
Boston (inc Cambridge)USA58Hancock Place (241m)
[51] 512202
SeattleUSA52Columbia Center (285m)
[52] 522191
KaohsiungTaiwan92Tunex Sky Tower (348m)
[60] 532177
LondonUK55The Shard (306m, u/c)
[53] 542165
HangzhouChina68Zhejiang Fortune Financial Center West Tower (258m)
[54] 552109
Kuwait CityKuwait39Al Hamra Tower (413m, u/c)
[55] 562097
XiamenChina94Fortune Center (192m)
[56] 571893
FrankfurtGermany39Commerzbank Tower (259m)
[57] 581872
BrisbaneAustralia60Aurora (207m)
[58] 591850
Tel Aviv (inc Ramat Gan, Givataiym, Bnei Brak)Israel59City Gate Ramat Gan (244m)
[59] 601828
Sharjah (Dubai metro)UAE37Al Ayaan Sharjah Gate Tower (224m)
[61] 611804
ShenyangChina68Shenyang Royal Wan Xin International Mansion Tower A (219m)
[62] 621686
Vancouver (inc Burnaby, N. Vancouver)Canada107Living Shangri-La (201m)
[63] 631658
Rio de Janeiro (inc Niterói)Brazil99Rio Sul Center (163m)
[64] 641653
Montreal (inc Longueuil)Canada59Le 1250 Boulevard René-Lévesque (226m)
[65] 651614
Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise)Australia69Q1 Tower (323m)
[66] 661610
CaracasVenezuela74Parque Central Torre Este (225m)
[67] 671582
MinneapolisUSA35IDS Tower (241m)
[68] 681573
Honolulu, HIUSA89First Hawaiian Center (131m)
[69] 691569
Suzhou (Shanghai metro)China44SPG Global Tower A (286m)
[70] 701502
Denver (inc. Glendale)USA45Republic Plaza (218m)
[71] 711489
DaeguSouth Korea42Suseong Leader's View 1 (225m)
[72] 721486
GuiyangChina57Kempinski Hotel (212m)
[73] 731429
Makkah (Mecca)Saudi Arabia7Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel (601m, u/c)
[74] 741377
Yokohama (Tokyo metro)Japan54Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m)
[75] 751340
FuzhouChina39Fujian Power Dispatching and Communication Building (196m)
[76] 761336
Detroit (inc Southfield, Windsor)USA42Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center (221m)
[77] 771322
WuxiChina29Run Hua International Building (258m)
[78] 781304
PittsburghUSA33U.S. Steel Tower (256m)
[79] 791293
RecifeBrazil102Freguesia de Casa Forte (131m)
[80] 801245
Songnam (Seoul metro)South Korea49NHN Green Factory (135m)
[80]  .. 1245
Kobe (Osaka metro)Japan42Kansai Electric Power Company Kobe Branch (170m)
[82] 821182
ShijiazhuangChina50Shijiazhuang No.2 Telecommunication Hub Building (213m)
[83] 831168
JinanChina43Pearl Int'l Business Mansion (188m)
[84] 841155
CairoEgypt44Ministry of Foreign Affairs (143m)
[85] 851102
CharlotteUSA22Bank of America Corporate Center (265m)
[86] 861094
NanchangChina31International Finance Center (239m, u/c)
[87] 871092
Sunny Isles Beach (Miami metro)USA22Jade Beach (175m)
[88] 881026
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam36Bitexco Financial Tower (269m)
[89] 891007
XianChina47Shaanxi Information Mansion (228m)
[90] 90984UlsanSouth Korea24Taehwa-River Iaan Exodium Tower 1 (201m)
[91] 91981AnkaraTurkey56Portakal Cicegi Tower (160m)
[92] 92978ChangshaChina23Changsha No.2 Telecom Hinge Building (218m)
[93] 93972San DiegoUSA33One America Plaza (152m)
[94] 94964HarbinChina46Harbin Exhibition Center Hotel (170m)
[95] 95952NagoyaJapan22Midland Square (247m)
[96] 96941MadridSpain18Torre de Cristal (249m)
[97] 97934TaiyuanChina30Golden Port Hotel (179m)
[98] 98917NingboChina31Chamber of Commerce International Trade Center (207m)
[98]  .. 917ManamaBahrain14Dual Tower 1 (260m)
[100] 100904TaichungTaiwan27Shr-Hwa International Tower (192m)
608196WORLD TOTAL18808
next 100 cities >

created: 1998-05-20
last update: 2012-08-20