Official skyline ranking of world cities

[takezawa]

http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/sr/

[RandySavage]

http://www.graffitibiz.com/nyc_full.jpg

This panoramic photo (created by poster aural iNk) puts to rest any and all debate about what city has the world's greatest skyline.

Hong Kong may have an ever growing number of taller buildings, but when you combine the landmark giants of the early 20th century (ESB, Chrysler, 40 Broad, Woolworth, AIG, Rockefeller), the icons of the late 20th century (Citigroup, 1 Chase Plaza, WFC) and the under-construction architectural wonders (New York Times, Hearst, Bloomberg, 1 Bryant Park), there is simply no skyline that can match the history and majesty of New York’s skyline. In addition, the building height restrictions of the zones below Midtown allow the short, but great buildings (New York Life, MetLife, Perry West) to share the spotlight with the giants.

With 80South Street, Gehry's Beekman Street Tower, Goldman Sachs, and, of course, the new World Trade Center all around the corner, New York’s skyline pre-eminence will only grow.

[Kris]

Takezawa's signature:

Hong Kong's high rise building is much more, dense and taller than any ither city in the world. if you don't believe, go to have a look.

http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/sr/

[RandySavage]

Very amusing signature.

[RS085]

I agree with your post Randy. That picture he made was phenomenal. Hong Kong DOES NOT COMPARE to New York's skyline, where ever you view it. That picture is only Midtown. New York's skyline stretches to Downtown, if you ever view Midtown from ESB, you can see it is also very wide. The only reason why people think Hong Kong is better is because its more modern buildings. New York also has more 500+ footers than any other city, and Midtown is the largest downtown area in the world, courtesy of emporis.com. NYC skyline is priceless. Just wait for those new buildings...

[Eugenius]

One other thing that makes the Midtown skyline particularly impressive is that it is not only a bit over a mile long, but it is also a mile wide. Manhattan's flat topography and grid street system ensure that while many skyscrapers are viewed best along the East-West axis, many more are in their full glory when viewed along the North-South axis.

A good example is Rockefeller Center. In the link above, it is almost fully concealed by WorldWide Plaza. However, when seen from Central Park or ESB, it dominates the skyline.

In effect, Manhattan presents a sheer wall of skyscrapers from whichever angle you view it.

[NewYorkYankee]

No other city really has the "Ture, urban feeling" that NY has. The walls of skyscrapers everywhere, the urbaness of the farthest reaches of the city (Townhomes in the top of the bronx, mid rises in coney island), and the great street life are just 3 of the reasons why NY is the greatest city in the world.

[Vengeance]

http://www.skyscraperpage.com/cities/


empois facts are wrong, ny and hong kong do not have as many buildings as they listed, they included "proposed" buildings that never happened and are never going to... no city in the world has close to as many buildings nor skyscrapers as ny

those facts were probably generated by computer code because their numbers are WAY off

[Vengeance]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Tower


now that will be the sickest skyline this world will ever see

[JeffreyNYC]

Hong Kong has some taller buildings than New York, especially with the fall of the Twin Towers. That will change with the Freedom Tower, provided they can redesign the building by addressing the NYPD's security concerns.
In addition Hong Kong's number of skyscapers is greater according to Emporis.
My take on this is that Hong Kong being a city in Asia has more people per capita living in high rise apartments than New York. Keep in mind Emporis rates buildings such as those of Stuyvesant Town or LeFrak city in Queens as skyscrapers. Those probably wouldn't be considered skyscrapers by an "american" definition of the word but according to Emporis they are. To sum it up, New York is much more spread out than Hong Kong. When rated you have to consider Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx and Brooklyn, 4 boroughs that have relatively few high rises/skyscrapers compared to Manhattan or Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a city of apartment buildings. There aren't the sprawling row houses, brownstones, etc..that New York's outer boroughs have. This brings up Hong Kong's skyline rating significantly.
It doesn't actually mean that Hong Kong's has a more impressive skyline or that it has more skyscrapers in the "real" sense of the word "skyscaper'!

[212]

Is there a methodology that puts NYC on top? At Emporis, it's 114,486 points for HK, 35,407 for NYC. A big difference.

Emporis' system:

Points per Building
12..19 floors = 1 point
20..29 floors = 5 points
30..39 floors = 25 points
40..49 floors = 50 points
50..59 floors = 100 points
60..69 floors = 200 points
70..79 floors = 300 points
80..89 floors = 400 points
90..99 floors = 500 points
100+ floors = 600 points

[MRoberts]

I believe the ranking here is the most reflective of which are the "tallest" skylines: http://ultrapolisproject.com/ultrapolis_017.htm. Emporis gives a lot of weight to the number of buildings, starting with buildings as low as 12 stories, which you hardly notice in a skyline of 50-100 story buildings. Also, they go by stories, instead of by actual height of each building. While NYC still comes in as 4th tallest, the site does note that in terms of the number of true skyscrapers (buildings of 500 feet or more), NYC still rules - though it days as number one there are also numbered.

[Johnny5Lee]

I lived in Yew York for 15 years and I love it. It's a great city. However, when it comes to skylines, I must admit defeat to Hong Kong. I conceded defeat the first moment I visited and witnessed the HK skyline. It's unbelievable. That doesn't take anything away from NY. HK just has an unbeatable skyline.

[TonyO]

An unofficial ranking posted on Gothamist:

http://www.diserio.com/top15-skylines.html

I think it is right, unfortunately. Although there is a qualifier about "if" the Freedom Tower is built.

[lofter1]

Great images ...

Sao Paolo looks like it could use a big one.