• Home
• Real Estate
• News Article

World's best skylines

Dubai has the seventh best skyline in the world, according to Emporis, the respected consultancy that specialises in skyscrapers across the world.
The emirate was the only Middle Eastern city in the 50 best skylines in the world, with Doha placed second in the region at 64.
Emporis has ranked the cities by the visual impact of their skylines, and based its findings entirely from statistics in its database. The calculations do not include TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
Clearly, it's not just about the number of tall buildings, but their height as well. For example, Tokyo has 2,704 tall buildings but is ranked tenth, compared to Dubai which only has 597 tall buildings, according to Emporis.
Dubai is of course, home to Burj Khalifa , the world's tallest building structure at 828 metres. It will remain uncontested until Prince Waleed's one-mile Kingdom Tower rises up in the next few years.

FIFTH LARGEST CLUSTER OF SKYSCRAPERS
Dubai is also home to the fifth largest concentration of skyscrapers in the world. [The definition of a skyscraper is any building that is at least 100 meters - or 328 feet, according to Emporis, and is distinct from 'tall buildings'].
The emirate of Dubai has an astonishing 231 skyscrapers, behind only Hong Kong (1,221), New York City (563), Tokyo (344) and Chicago (282).
Cairo, is home to the second largest collection of skyscrapers in the Middle East with a mere 29 skyscrapers, and is ranked 55th in the world.
Doha once again finds itself in 64th position, with 24 skyscrapers, Abu Dhabi is ranked 66th with 23 tall towers, and Sharjah is 69th with 19 towers.
Makkah, which will soon be home to the Makkah Clock Royal Tower - the second largest building in the world at 577 metres -- does not feature in the top 100 just yet.

NEW SKYSCRAPERS COMING UP
Despite a massive real estate bust, the emirate of Dubai will also see - eventually - the completion of a number of new skyscrapers. The Princess Tower, at 414 metres, is under construction, and will be the 15th largest tower in the world when complete.
Similarly, 23 Marina (395 metres, 17th place), Elite Residence (380 metres, 21st place) and Emirates Park Tower 1 &2 (376 metres each, 22nd and 23rd place), Al Yaqoub Tower (333 metres, 42nd place) are all set to add the neck-craning skyline of the city, according to Emporis.
Of course, the new towers also highlight the new set of housing units coming into the market already awash with empty floors and units.

And even though the Middle East gets a bad rep for throwing money at trophy buildings, there were only 12 Dubai buildings in the list of 200 most expensively towers in the world.
Despite the towering height of Burj Khalifa it cost Emaar Properties USD1.5 billion, compared to the 509-metre Tapei 101, which cost its owner, Ting Hsin International Group, UD1.76 billion.
The second most expensive building in the region was Union Properties Index, which ranked 40th most expensive in the world, at USD490 million, which is amazing given that The Index is not even in the city's top ten tallest towers. It ranks an unimpressive 12^th tallest building in the emirate.

The 235-metre Rosewood Dubai, is expected to cost USD450,000,000 and is not even feature in the top 20 tallest buildings in the emirate. Of course, there could be other reasons for a building to be costly, including related amenities and infrastructure, design and width of a building.
Dubai has made a name for itself with one of the most impressive skylines in the world, with more on the way. While it is a reflection of its ambition, it is also a reminder of the real estate units that are still set to come into the market.

© alifarabia.com 2012

---

© Copyright Zawya. All Rights Reserved.

---