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]
Points CITY
update 2007-2014, 2015, 2020
Country Buildings
>90 m
highest scoring building
(height)
1 92628
Hong Kong China 3266 International Commerce Centre (484m)
[6]▲ 2 59166
Shenzhen China 1568 Ping An Finance Center (599m)
[2]▼ 3 56945
New York (inc Jersey City, Fort Lee, Guttenburg, W New York) USA 1066 One World Trade Center (541m)
4 32579
Dubai UAE 504 Burj Khalifa (828m)
[27]▲ 5 31894
Wuhan China 635 Wuhan Center Tower (438m)
[10]▲ 6 30795
Chongqing China 1573 Raffles City Chongqing (347m)
[5]▼ 7 29948
Tokyo (inc Kawaguchi, Kawasaki, Ichikawa) Japan 854 Toranomon Hills Mori Tower (256m)
[7]▼ 8 27921
Guangzhou China 851 The CTF Guangzhou (530m)
[3]▼ 9 27271
Shanghai China 833 Shanghai Tower (632m)
[8]▼ 10 24786
Bangkok Thailand 736 Magnolias Waterfront Residences Tower 1 (315m)
[12]▲ 11 23596
Singapore Singapore 725 Guoco Tower (284m)
[11]▼ 12 20361
Manila (inc Makati, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig, Muntinlupa) Philippines 470 Philippine Bank of Communications (259m)
[9]▼ 13 19803
Chicago USA 410 Willis Tower (442m)
14 19708
Kuala Lumpur (inc Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya) Malaysia 603 Petronas Tower 1 (452m)
[13]▼ 15 18134
Seoul South Korea 702 Lotte World Tower (554m)
[15]▼ 16 16834
Jakarta Indonesia 366 Azure Tower (288m, u/c)
[16]▼ 17 16435
Toronto (inc Mississauga) Canada 466 First Canadian Bank (298m)
[23]▲ 18 15591
Busan South Korea 580 LCT Landmark Tower (411m)
[29]▲ 19 14763
Mumbai India 349 Lodha The Park 1 (268m)
20 14672
Tianjin China 289 Goldin Finance 117 (597m, u/c)
[19]▼ 21 12538
Shenyang China 210 Forum 66 Tower 1 (351m)
[17]▼ 22 11780
Panama City Panama 319 JW Marriott Panama (284m)
[21]▼ 23 11464
Moscow Russia 320 Federation Towers (374m)
24 11164
Beijing China 491 CITIC Tower (528m)
[18]▼ 25 10756
Chengdu China 200 Chengdu International Finance Square Tower 1 (247m)
[22]▼ 26 10508
Nanjing China 165 Zifeng Tower (450m)
[31]▲ 27 10148
Xiamen China 244 Xiamen Shimao Straits Tower B (295m)
[30]▲ 28 9594
Dalian China 190 Eton Place Dalian Tower 1 (383m)
[25]▼ 29 8103
Osaka (inc Sakai, Amagasaka) Japan 215 Abeno Harukas (300m)
[28]▼ 30 7230
Abu Dhabi UAE 121 World Trade Center Abu Dhabi - The Residences (381m)
[26]▼ 31 6684
Miami (inc Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach) USA 147 Four Seasons Hotel & Tower (240m)
32 5836
Istanbul Turkey 167 Sapphire (261m)
33 5646
São Paulo (inc São Bernardo do Campo) Brazil 395 Palácio W. Zarzur (170m)
34 5477
Sydney (inc N. Sydney) Australia 155 Chifley Tower (244m)
35 5468
Incheon (Seoul metro) South Korea 108 Northeast Asia Trade Tower (305m)
36 5293
Houston (inc Pasadena) USA 124 JPMorganChase Tower (305m)
37 5005
Melbourne Australia 147 Eureka Tower (297m)
38 4853
Taipei (inc Chungho, Panchou, Yungho) Taiwan 159 Taipei 101 (508m)
39 4826
Doha Qatar 79 Aspire Tower (300m)
40 4385
Qingdao China 98 Qingdao International Finance Center (249m)
41 4329
Wuxi China 97 Wuxi International Finance Square (339m)
42 4319
Mexico City Mexico 141 Torre Reforma (244m, u/c)
43 4211
Macau China 148 Grand Lisboa (258m)
44 4196
Hangzhou China 94 Zhejiang Fortune Financial Center Tower 1 (258m)
45 3858
Los Angeles (inc Burbank, El Segundo, W Hollywood) USA 90 US Bank Tower (310m)
46 3791
San Francisco USA 112 Transamerica Pyramid (260m)
47 3779
Nanchang China 67 Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Central Plaza 1 (303m)
48 3597
Atlanta (inc Vinnings, North Atlanta) USA 90 Bank of America Plaza (317m)
49 3301
Shijiazhuang China 167 Kai Yuan World Center (246m)
50 3050
Suzhou (Shanghai metro) China 79 Gate of the Orient (302m)
51 2967
Hanoi Vietnam 116 Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower (329m)
52 2916
Las Vegas USA 61 Fontainebleau Resort Hotel (T/O on hold) (381m)
53 2899
Paris (inc La Defense & périphérique suburbs) France 116 Tour First (231m)
54 2885
Tel Aviv (inc Ramat Gan, Givataiym, Bnei Brak, Bat Yam) Israel 95 City Gate Ramat Gan (244m)
55 2858
Dallas (inc Las Colinas of Irving) USA 69 Bank of America Plaza (281m)
56 2848
Changsha China 42 Huayuan Center Tower 7 (270m, u/c)
57 2810
Buenos Aires Argentina 126 Le Parc Figueroa Alcorta - Torre Cavia (173m)
58 2738
Philadelphia (inc Camden) USA 78 Comcast Center (297m)
59 2737
Calgary Canada 77 The Bow (236m)
60 2714
London UK 72 The Shard (306m)
61 2676
Kuwait City Kuwait 47 Al Hamra Tower (413m)
62 2469
Seattle USA 58 Columbia Center (284m)
63 2456
Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 81 Bitexco Financial Tower (263m)
64 2449
Fuzhou China 52 Shimao International Office Tower (273m)
65 2419
Nanning China 55 Diwang International Commerce Center (276m)
66 2372
Brisbane Australia 67 Infinity (249m)
67 2356
Boston (inc Cambridge) USA 60 Hancock Place (241m)
68 2324
Guiyang China 68 Hunter Douglas International Plaza (250m)
69 2304
Kaohsiung Taiwan 93 Tunex Sky Tower (413m)
70 2272
Riyadh Saudi Arabia 37 Capital Market Authority Tower (385m, u/c)
71 2201
Daegu South Korea 97 Suseong Leader's View 1 (225m)
72 2082
Ningbo China 66 Global Shipping Plaza (257m)
73 2006
Frankfurt Germany 40 Commerzbank Tower (259m)
74 1963
Sharjah (Dubai metro) UAE 40 Al Ayaan Sharjah Gate Tower (224m)
75 1952
Vancouver (inc Burnaby, N. Vancouver) Canada 121 Living Shangri-La (201m)
76 1839
Montreal (inc Longueuil) Canada 66 Le 1250 Boulevard René-Lévesque (226m)
77 1820
Hefei China 44 Anhui New Broadcasting & TV Center (245m)
78 1814
Jinan China 52 Greenland Puli Center (303m)
79 1808
Recife Brazil 131 Freguesia de Casa Forte (138m, u/c)
80 1798
Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise) Australia 71 Q1 Tower (323m)
81 1732
Taichung Taiwan 85 Shr-Hwa International Tower (192m)
82 1699
Honolulu, HI USA 92 801 South Street Building A (137m)
83 1695
Ankara Turkey 76 Türk Telekom Tower (192m)
84 1672
Rio de Janeiro (inc Niterói) Brazil 100 Rio Sul Center (163m)
85 1653
Zhengzhou China 39 Greenland Zhengzhou Central Plaza (284m, u/c)
86 1611
Minneapolis USA 37 IDS Tower (241m)
87 1610
Caracas Venezuela 74 Parque Central Torre Este (225m)
88 1608
Taiyuan China 59 Moi Tiandi (210m, u/c)
89 1584
Goyang (Seoul metro) South Korea 51 Tanhyun Doosan We've the Zenith 105 (230m)
90 1564
Yokohama (Tokyo metro) Japan 56 Yokohama Landmark Tower (296m)
91 1527
Goiania Brazil 57 Premier Vision (148m)
92 1502
Denver (inc Glendale) USA 45 Republic Plaza (218m)
93 1473
Kunming China 32 Wanda Plaza (307m, u/c)
94 1386
Pittsburgh USA 33 U.S. Steel Tower (256m)
95 1385
Makkah (Mecca) Saudi Arabia 8 Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel (601m)
96 1379
Kobe (Osaka metro) Japan 45 City Tower Kobe Sannomiya (190m)
97 1336
Detroit (inc Southfield, Windsor) USA 42 Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center (221m)
98 1325
Harbin China 51 Agricultural Science and Technology International Center (226m)
99 1282
Songnam (Seoul metro) South Korea 91 NHN Green Factory (135m)
100 1268
Manama Bahrain 22 Four Seasons Hotel (270m)
972848 WORLD TOTAL 28414
next 100 cities >

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