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Beijing has one beautiful skyline.
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Every city in the world has a unique skyline. But is it possible to say which is the best?
The international building database Emporis attempts to quantify skylines by looking at the number and height of buildings in the world's major cities. The result is an ever-changing ranking of the world's most impressive cityscapes.
To rank skylines, Emporis looks at completed skyscrapers (40 floors or more) and high-rises (12 to 39 floors), and assigns each building a point value based on its floor count. Taller buildings receive significantly higher values (see Emporis' complete methodology here). TV towers, masts, bridges, and other structures are excluded.
Moscow jumped from 11th place to fourth place year-over-year, and Shanghai (No. 8) overtook São Paulo (No. 9).
No. 25: Rio de Janeiro has 2,595 tall buildings in 1,182 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 24: Osaka, Japan, has 1,490 tall buildings in 220 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 23: Jakarta, Indonesia, has 443 tall buildings in 661 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 22: Istanbul has 2,312 tall buildings in 1,991 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 21: Beijing has 925 tall buildings in 16,808 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 20: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has 608 tall buildings in 243 square kilometers.
Migel / Shutterstock.com
Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 19: Mumbai has 1,596 tall buildings in 621 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 18: Panama City has 241 tall buildings in 2,560 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 17: Chongqing, China, has 541 tall buildings in 82,403 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 16: Incheon, South Korea, has 494 tall buildings in 1,029 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 15: Shenzhen, China, has 420 tall buildings in 2,020 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 14: Busan, South Korea, has 351 tall buildings in 527 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 13: Toronto has 2,029 tall buildings in 629 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 12: Guangzhou, China, has 543 tall buildings in 7,434 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 11: Tokyo has 2,771 tall buildings in 620 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 10: Bangkok has 923 tall buildings in 1,568 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 9: São Paulo has 5,789 tall buildings in 1,523 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 8: Shanghai has 1,121 tall buildings in 6,638 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 7: Chicago has 1,160 tall buildings in 589 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 6: Dubai, UAE, has 686 tall buildings in 3,885 square kilometers.
Zhukov Oleg / Shutterstock.com
Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 5: Seoul, South Korea has 3,023 tall buildings in 616 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 4: Moscow has 10,896 tall buildings in 1,081 square kilometers.
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Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 3: Singapore has 4,562 tall buildings in 710 square kilometers.
surassawadee / Shutterstock.com
Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 2: New York City has 6,091 tall buildings in 800 square kilometers.
Shoriful Chowdhury / Shutterstock.com
Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
No. 1: Hong Kong has 7,794 tall buildings in 1,053 square kilometers.
Phaitoon Sutunyawatchai / Shutterstock.com
Methodology: Each building over 11 floors was assigned a point value based on number of floors. Measurements exclude TV towers, masts, bridges, or other structures.
