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Growing tall: Doha skyscrapers make world list

DOHA: The city of Doha came fourth in the world and the second in the Middle East in the number of skyscrapers completed in 2011, according to the recently-released annual report of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

The Doha skyline is going to add many more skyscrapers in the coming years, including the second tallest building in the world - the 551-m Doha Convention Center and Tower to be constructed in West Bay.

Of the total 88 tall buildings with a height of 200 metres and above completed all over the world in 2011, Doha accounted for eight buildings, placing itself just behind Abu Dhabi, which had nine skyscrapers completed during the year. Dubai came third in the Middle East and fifth in the world with seven buildings.

Among the 11 countries featured in the list, Qatar came fifth and the second in the Middle East, with the UAE placed first in the region and the second in the world. China tops the list with 23 skyscrapers followed by the UAE (16), South Korea (11), Panama (10) and Qatar (8) in the next four positions, respectively.

Among the cities, Panama City (Panama) came first with 10 buildings. Busan (South Korea) and Abu Dhabi shared the second position with nine buildings each, followed by Doha (8) and Dubai (7) in the third and fourth positions, respectively.

The eight tallest buildings in Doha featured in the global report are: Palm Tower-1, Palm Tower-2 (Each 245m), Burj Qatar (236m), Courtyard, Renaissance Hotel, Merweb Hotel, Rotana Hotel and Shangri-La Hotel (Each 200m).

"It had been expected that skyscraper completions would drop off very sharply after 2011, as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis and the large number of projects put on hold. Now however, due in large part to the continuing high activity of skyscraper design and construction in China, as well as the development of several relatively new markets, this global dip is no longer expected. The effect this will have on the skylines of the world will be tremendous," said the report by Nathaniel Hollister, CTBUH Production Coordinator and Antony Wood, its Executive Director. The buildings completed in 2011 have effected a significant change in the world's tallest 100 buildings, with 17 new buildings added to the list.

This change continues the trends of recent years. Perhaps most significantly, for the first time in history the number of office buildings in the tallest 100 has diminished to the 50 percent mark, as mixed-use buildings continue to increase, jumping from 23 to 31.

In terms of location, Asia, now with 46 of the 100, continues to edge toward containing half of the world's tallest buildings. The Middle East region saw an increase of three, while Europe diminished to only one building in the tallest 100, said the report.

© The Peninsula 2012