Ultrapolis World's Twenty-Five Tallest Cities

World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities
World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities
Current year on latest available data.				Rank for each past years is as of December 31.
Rank 2010		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2009		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2008		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2007		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2006		CAHTT*	Tier
1	Dubai****	1085.3	1		New York City**	1043.7			New York City**	1023.3			New York City**	1023.3			New York City**	1015.5
	New York City**	1043.7	1A	1	Chicago	1035.5	1A	1	Hong Kong***	1006.2	1A	1	Chicago	995.1	1A	1	Chicago	995.1	1A
2	Chicago	1035.5	1A	2	Hong Kong	1006.2	1A	2	Chicago	995.1	1A	2	Hong Kong	985.7	1A	2	Hong Kong	955.5	1A
3	Hong Kong	1006.2	1A	3	Shanghai	984.5	1A	3	Shanghai	984.5	1B	3	New York City	912.1	1B	3	New York City	904.3	1B
4	Shanghai	984.5	1B	4	Dubai	935.0	1B	4	New York City	912.1	1B	4	Shanghai	898.3	1B	4	Shanghai	898.3	1B
5	New York City	934.3	1B	5	New York City	934.3	1B	5	Dubai	907.0	1B	5	Kuala Lumpur	896.0	1B	5	Kuala Lumpur	896.0	1B
6	Kuala Lumpur	897.5	1B	6	Kuala Lumpur	897.5	1B	6	Kuala Lumpur	897.5	1B	6	Dubai	871.7	1B	6	Dubai	822.1	2
7	Guangzhou	840.9	2	7	Singapore	812.9	2	7	Houston	809.8	2	7	Houston	809.8	2	7	Houston	809.8	2
8	Singapore	812.9	2	8	Houston	809.8	2	8	Shenzhen	806.0	2	8	Shenzhen	803.7	2	8	Shenzhen	803.7	2
9	Houston	809.8	2	9	Shenzhen	806.0	2	9	Singapore	790.3	2	9	Singapore	790.3	2	9	Singapore	790.3	2
10	Shenzhen	806.0	2	10	Toronto	797.0	2	10	Toronto	781.1	2	10	Toronto	781.1	2	10	Toronto	781.1	2
11	Toronto	797.0	2	11	Tokyo	774.3	2	11	Tokyo	774.3	2	11	Tokyo	774.3	2	11	Los Angeles	767.1	2
12	Tokyo	774.3	2	12	Los Angeles	767.1	2	12	Los Angeles	767.1	2	12	Los Angeles	767.1	2	12	Tokyo	764.8	2
13	Los Angeles	767.1	2	13	Guangzhou	760.1	2	13	Guangzhou	760.1	2	13	Guangzhou	760.1	2	13	Seoul	752.0	2
14	Seoul	752.0	2	14	Seoul	752.0	2	14	Seoul	752.0	2	14	Seoul	752.0	2	14	Atlanta	741.4	2
15	Atlanta	747.2	2	15	Atlanta	747.2	2	15	Atlanta	747.2	2	15	Atlanta	741.4	2	15	Melbourne	734.1	2
16	Bangkok	744.1	2	16	Bangkok	742.9	2	16	Melbourne	734.1	2	16	Melbourne	734.1	2	16	Dallas	717.3	2
17	Melbourne	734.1	2	17	Melbourne	734.1	2	17	Bangkok	731.2	2	17	Dallas	717.3	2	17	Bangkok	714.1	2
18	Pending	x	x	18	Pending	x	x	18	Dallas	717.3	3	18	Bangkok	716.5	2	18	Sydney	711.9	2
19	Pending	x	x	19	Pending	x	x	19	Sydney	711.9	3	19	Sydney	711.9	2	19	Guangzhou	701.4	2
20	Pending	x	x	20	Pending	x	x	20	Philadelphia	701.8	3	20	Chongqing	689.4	3	20	Chongqing	671.7	3
21	Pending	x	x	21	Pending	x	x	21	Chongqing	692.6	3	21	Wuhan	685.1	3	21	Seattle	670.4	3
22	Pending	x	x	22	Pending	x	x	22	Wuhan	685.1	3	22	Seattle	670.4	3	22	Manila	656.9	3
23	Pending	x	x	23	Pending	x	x	23	Seattle	670.4	3	23	Moscow	664.6	3	23	Philadelphia	654.1	3
24	Pending	x	x	24	Pending	x	x	24	Moscow	666.0	3	24	Manila	656.9	3	24	Frankfurt	647.6	3
25	Pending	x	x	25	Pending	x	x	25	Miami	660.2	3	25	Philadelphia	654.1	3	25	San Francisco	636.6	3
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World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities
World's 25 Tallest Cities								World's 25 Tallest Cities

Rank 2005		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2004		CAHTT*	Tier	Rank 2000		CAHTT*	Tier
	New York City**	1015.5			New York City**	1015.5		1	New York City	1010.4	1A
1	Chicago	995.1	1A	1	Chicago	995.1	1A	2	Chicago	995.1	1A
2	Hong Kong	955.5	1A	2	Hong Kong	955.5	1A	3	Kuala Lumpur	852.1	1B
3	New York City	904.3	1B	3	New York City	903.8	1B	4	Hong Kong	839.6	1B
4	Kuala Lumpur	896.0	1B	4	Kuala Lumpur	896.0	1B	5	Houston	809.8	1B
5	Shanghai	894.0	1B	5	Shanghai	863.2	1B	6	Toronto	776.3	2
6	Houston	809.8	2	6	Houston	809.8	2	7	Singapore	772.3	2
7	Shenzhen	798.9	2	7	Shenzhen	793.5	2	8	Los Angeles	767.1	2
8	Toronto	781.1	2	8	Toronto	776.4	2	9	Tokyo	754.3	2
9	Singapore	772.3	2	9	Singapore	772.3	2	10	Shanghai	747.1	2
10	Dubai	772.1	2	10	Los Angeles	767.1	2	11	Atlanta	732.0	2
11	Los Angeles	767.1	2	11	Tokyo	764.8	2	12	Dallas	717.3	2
12	Tokyo	764.8	2	12	Seoul	752.0	2	13	Shenzhen	715.6	2
13	Seoul	752.0	2	13	Atlanta	732.0	2	14	Melbourne	685.5	3
14	Atlanta	732.0	2	14	Dubai	722.8	2	15	Sydney	674.3	3
15	Dallas	717.3	2	15	Dallas	717.3	2	16	Bangkok	674.0	3
16	Sydney	711.9	2	16	Sydney	706.3	2	17	Seattle	663.5	3
17	Bangkok	710.3	2	17	Bangkok	704.3	2	18	Philadelphia	653.5	3
18	Melbourne	697.3	3	18	Guangzhou	688.3	3	19	Frankfurt	645.1	3
19	Guangzhou	688.3	3	19	Melbourne	685.5	3	20	San Francisco	636.6	3
20	Seattle	663.5	3	20	Seattle	663.5	3	21	Guangzhou	627.9	3
21	Chongqing	663.3	3	21	Manila	656.9	3	22	Manila	627.5	3
22	Manila	656.9	3	22	Philadelphia	654.1	3	23	Minneapolis	616.5	3
23	Philadelphia	654.1	3	23	Frankfurt	645.1	3	24	Boston	611.6	3
24	Frankfurt	647.6	3	24	San Francisco	636.6	3	25	Seoul	610.5	3
25	San Francisco	636.6	3	25	Minneapolis	618.2	3
The UltrapolisProject.com, © 2004-2010, All Rights Reserved. May be reproduced only with proper credit given.

*The CAHTT is the “Calculated Average Height of the Ten Tallest” buildings and towers of each city. For each past year, the numbers are as of December 31. The formula gives less weight for thin, ornamental spires and observation towers, and ignores the number floors, which is a poor indicator of actual height. Antennas are not counted as part of a buildings height, following the guidelines of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Buildings are not included in end-of-year rankings if not determined completed by the standards set by the CTBUH. For details of the formula please see the Methodology page. See also Ten Tallest Cities, and The Rise and Fall of the American Skyscraper.

**The score for New York City 9/10 is what it would have been for New York, had the World Trade Center Towers not been destroyed. This ranking of New York 9/10 was set to end when the first city exceeded its CAHTT score, or after ten years, whichever occurred later. On January 4, 2010, Dubai exceeded New York 9/10’s score. Therefore, ranking of New York City 9/10 (in purple above) will end with the 2011 rankings.

***Hong Kong was the first metropolis to exceed a CAHTT score of 1000 since New York (which attained a score of 1009.9 in 1977), and the second one to replace Chicago as the world’s tallest (New York City was the first in 1890). However, its reign as the world’s tallest city was short-lived, with the completion of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in May 2009, when Chicago briefly regained its position as the world’s tallest city before it was surpassed a third time, this time by Dubai.

****Dubai experienced a meteoric rise in this annual ranking, with an ambitious construction boom not seen since the 1920’s and 1930’s in New York City. Dubai purposefully sought to be number one several years ago, and finally achieved this with the completion of what is now by far the world’s tallest building. The 162-story Dubai Tower, now called Khalifa Tower (Burj Khalifa), was officially opened on January 4, of 2010. See our World’s Tallest City page for more on Dubai.