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 yearly published Almanac of Architecture and Design <=
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 2014 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
Dec 2020: after 5 years, update of the top 30 cities (except #1). Biggest surprises: Shenzhen overtaking New York and Wuhan rocketing to #5. For news, rumours and discussion about aktscrapers and cities, 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.
Skyline Poll
next 100 cities >
Ranking
[old]
PointsCITY
update 2007-2014, 2015, 2020
CountryBuildings
>90 m
highest scoring building
(height)
192628
Hong KongChina3266International Commerce Centre (484m)
[6]▲ 259166
ShenzhenChina1568Ping An Finance Center (599m)
[2]▼ 356945
New York (inc Jersey City, Fort Lee, Guttenburg, W New York)USA1066One World Trade Center (541m)
432579
DubaiUAE504Burj Khalifa (828m)
[27]▲ 531894
WuhanChina635Wuhan Center Tower (438m)
[10]▲ 630795
ChongqingChina1573Raffles City Chongqing (347m)
[5]▼ 729948
Tokyo (inc Kawaguchi, Kawasaki, Ichikawa)Japan854Toranomon Hills Mori Tower (256m)
[7]▼ 827921
GuangzhouChina851The CTF Guangzhou (530m)
[3]▼ 927271
ShanghaiChina833Shanghai Tower (632m)
[8]▼ 1024786
BangkokThailand736Magnolias Waterfront Residences Tower 1 (315m)
[12]▲ 1123596
SingaporeSingapore725Guoco Tower (284m)
[11]▼ 1220361
Manila (inc Makati, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig, Muntinlupa)Philippines470Philippine Bank of Communications (259m)
[9]▼ 1319803
ChicagoUSA410Willis Tower (442m)
1419708
Kuala Lumpur (inc Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya)Malaysia603Petronas Tower 1 (452m)
[13]▼ 1518134
SeoulSouth Korea702Lotte World Tower (554m)
[15]▼ 1616834
JakartaIndonesia366Azure Tower (288m, u/c)
[16]▼ 1716435
Toronto (inc Mississauga)Canada466First Canadian Bank (298m)
[23]▲ 1815591
BusanSouth Korea580LCT Landmark Tower (411m)
[29]▲ 1914763
MumbaiIndia349Lodha The Park 1 (268m)
2014672
TianjinChina289Goldin Finance 117 (597m, u/c)
[19]▼ 2112538
ShenyangChina210Forum 66 Tower 1 (351m)
[17]▼ 2211780
Panama CityPanama319JW Marriott Panama (284m)
[21]▼ 2311464
MoscowRussia320Federation Towers (374m)
2411164
BeijingChina491CITIC Tower (528m)
[18]▼ 2510756
ChengduChina200Chengdu International Finance Square Tower 1 (247m)
[22]▼ 2610508
NanjingChina165Zifeng Tower (450m)
[31]▲ 2710148
XiamenChina244Xiamen Shimao Straits Tower B (295m)
[30]▲ 289594
DalianChina190Eton Place Dalian Tower 1 (383m)
[25]▼ 298103
Osaka (inc Sakai, Amagasaka)Japan215Abeno Harukas (300m)
[28]▼ 307230
Abu DhabiUAE121World Trade Center Abu Dhabi - The Residences (381m)
[26]▼ 316684
Miami (inc Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach)USA147Four Seasons Hotel & Tower (240m)
325836
IstanbulTurkey167Sapphire (261m)
335646
São Paulo (inc São Bernardo do Campo)Brazil395Palácio W. Zarzur (170m)
345477
Sydney (inc N. Sydney)Australia155Chifley Tower (244m)
355468
Incheon (Seoul metro)South Korea108Northeast Asia Trade Tower (305m)
365293
Houston (inc Pasadena)USA124JPMorganChase Tower (305m)
375005
MelbourneAustralia147Eureka Tower (297m)
384853
Taipei (inc Chungho, Panchou, Yungho)Taiwan159Taipei 101 (508m)
394826
DohaQatar79Aspire Tower (300m)
404385
QingdaoChina98Qingdao International Finance Center (249m)
414329
WuxiChina97Wuxi International Finance Square (339m)
424319
Mexico CityMexico141Torre Reforma (244m, u/c)
434211
MacauChina148Grand Lisboa (258m)
444196
HangzhouChina94Zhejiang Fortune Financial Center Tower 1 (258m)
453858
Los Angeles (inc Burbank, El Segundo, W Hollywood)USA90US Bank Tower (310m)
463791
San FranciscoUSA112Transamerica Pyramid (260m)
473779
NanchangChina67Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza 1 (303m)
483597
Atlanta (inc Vinnings, North Atlanta)USA90Bank of America Plaza (317m)
493301
ShijiazhuangChina167Kai Yuan World Center (246m)
503050
Suzhou (Shanghai metro)China79Gate of the Orient (302m)
512967
HanoiVietnam116Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower (329m)
522916
Las VegasUSA61Fontainebleau Resort Hotel (T/O on hold) (381m)
532899
Paris (inc La Defense & périphérique suburbs)France116Tour First (231m)
542885
Tel Aviv (inc Ramat Gan, Givataiym, Bnei Brak, Bat Yam)Israel95City Gate Ramat Gan (244m)
552858
Dallas (inc Las Colinas of Irving)USA69Bank of America Plaza (281m)
562848
ChangshaChina42Huayuan Center Tower 7 (270m, u/c)
572810
Buenos AiresArgentina126Le Parc Figueroa Alcorta - Torre Cavia (173m)
582738
Philadelphia (inc Camden)USA78Comcast Center (297m)
592737
CalgaryCanada77The Bow (236m)
602714
LondonUK72The Shard (306m)
612676
Kuwait CityKuwait47Al Hamra Tower (413m)
622469
SeattleUSA58Columbia Center (284m)
632456
Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam81Bitexco Financial Tower (263m)
642449
FuzhouChina52Shimao International Office Tower (273m)
652419
NanningChina55Diwang International Commerce Center (276m)
662372
BrisbaneAustralia67Infinity (249m)
672356
Boston (inc Cambridge)USA60Hancock Place (241m)
682324
GuiyangChina68Hunter Douglas International Plaza (250m)
692304
KaohsiungTaiwan93Tunex Sky Tower (413m)
702272
RiyadhSaudi Arabia37Capital Market Authority Tower (385m, u/c)
712201
DaeguSouth Korea97Suseong Leader's View 1 (225m)
722082
NingboChina66Global Shipping Plaza (257m)
732006
FrankfurtGermany40Commerzbank Tower (259m)
741963
Sharjah (Dubai metro)UAE40Al Ayaan Sharjah Gate Tower (224m)
751952
Vancouver (inc Burnaby, N. Vancouver)Canada121Living Shangri-La (201m)
761839
Montreal (inc Longueuil)Canada66Le 1250 Boulevard René-Lévesque (226m)
771820
HefeiChina44Anhui New Broadcasting & TV Center (245m)
781814
JinanChina52Greenland Puli Center (303m)
791808
RecifeBrazil131Freguesia de Casa Forte (138m, u/c)
801798
Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise)Australia71Q1 Tower (323m)
811732
TaichungTaiwan85Shr-Hwa International Tower (192m)
821699
Honolulu, HIUSA92801 South Street Building A (137m)
831695
AnkaraTurkey76Türk Telekom Tower (192m)
841672
Rio de Janeiro (inc Niterói)Brazil100Rio Sul Center (163m)
851653
ZhengzhouChina39Greenland Zhengzhou Central Plaza (284m, u/c)
861611
MinneapolisUSA37IDS Tower (241m)
871610
CaracasVenezuela74Parque Central Torre Este (225m)
881608
TaiyuanChina59Moi Tiandi (210m, u/c)
891584
Goyang (Seoul metro)South Korea51Tanhyun Doosan We've the Zenith 105 (230m)
901564
Yokohama (Tokyo metro)Japan56Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m)
911527
GoianiaBrazil57Premier Vision (148m)
921502
Denver (inc Glendale)USA45Republic Plaza (218m)
931473
KunmingChina32Wanda Plaza (307m, u/c)
941386
PittsburghUSA33U.S. Steel Tower (256m)
951385
Makkah (Mecca)Saudi Arabia8Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel (601m)
961379
Kobe (Osaka metro)Japan45City Tower Kobe Sannomiya (190m)
971336
Detroit (inc Southfield, Windsor)USA42Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center (221m)
981325
HarbinChina51Agricultural Science and Technology International Center (226m)
991282
Songnam (Seoul metro)South Korea91NHN Green Factory (135m)
1001268
ManamaBahrain22Four Seasons Hotel (270m)
972848WORLD TOTAL28414
next 100 cities >

created: 1998-05-20
last update: 2020-12-29