Which Cities Have the Most High-Rises?

The downtown skyline of a city is perhaps its most symbolic feature. The iconic cityscapes that we know and love are typically formed by skyscrapers, but much of the surrounding context is made up of other high-rise buildings. Yes, there is a difference between a skyscraper and a high-rise. Research company Emporis defines a high-rise as a building at least 35 meters (115 feet) or 12 stories tall. These high-rise buildings play a major role in the more sprawled urban context of larger cities today.

Read on for Emporis’ list of the 20 cities in the world with the most high-rises. You might be surprised by which cities made the cut.

1. Seoul, South Korea (33,073)

© <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Deiaemeth'>Wikimedia user Deiaemeth </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

2. Moscow, Russia (12,092)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Wecameasromans&action=edit&redlink=1'>Wikimedia user Wecameasromans </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

3. Hong Kong (7,833)

© <ahref='https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Haydn_Hsin&action=edit&redlink=1'>Wikimedia user Haydn Hsin </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

4. Mumbai, India (7,068)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User: Yoyosrk '>Wikimedia user Yoyosrk </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

5. São Paulo, Brazil (6,332)

6. New York City, USA (6,250)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/22240293@N05'>Flickr user Francisco Diaz</a> licensed under <a href=’https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

7. Singapore (5,861)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Someformofhuman&action=edit&redlink=1'>Wikimedia user Someformofhuman </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

8. Caracas, Venezuela (3,864)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/manurey/3262705973/'>Flickr user Paulino Moran</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

9. Busan, South Korea (3,493)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/people/88503995@N02'>Flickr user Younguk Kim</a> licensed under <a href=’https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

10. Incheon, South Korea (3,232)

<a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/martijnkoster/35482250895'>Flickr user Martijn Koster in public domain

11. Istanbul, Turkey (3,198)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/tony709/7330203854/in/photolist-caKde5-nHjKYZ-9M89aE-FYEjMM-oH75xx-bRMVVp-23UKFYJ-wKyk3u-wHLCJu-24XPCm7-Gpx7vA-T5YUDW-mi4QjT-7rjuo9-moKcSy-8PUQ9G-srkLCr-fph3EE-a5jqay-7iYTNi-918oNN-Mt1tCg-7XnNLt-dPvKMy-9nksz8-CSQnt9-tvqyvp-qQVXNr-AAxC5T-ebcWm6-zfip5o-Qz5dUb-rpZsFw-qJrJGi-FCwLvE-c337xQ-qKz76L-pYtFoz-wEYBvT-qEE8FJ-dUPvHw-zdKzG2-9mas2a-X4hHcz-qxmTeZ-5NPq8e-xvmhjr-JhxccD-dbW7Xy-qFHvU9'> Flickr user Cycling Man CC BY 2.0</a>

12. Tokyo, Japan (2,928)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Morio'>Wikimedia user Morio </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

13. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2,801)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/i-gunawan/22018641529/'>Flickr user Indra Gunawan</a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

14. Gurgaon, India (2,788)

© Wikimedia user Dinesh Pratap Singh licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5//'>CC BY 2.5</a>

15. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2,668)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldon/'>Flickr user Rodrigo Soldon</a> licensed under <a href=’https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

16. St. Petersburg, Russia (2,579)

© <ahref='https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Haydn_Hsin&action=edit&redlink=1'>Wikimedia user Haydn Hsin </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0//'>CC BY-SA 3.0</a>

17. Toronto, Canada (2,438)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sajeewashaluka'>Wikimedia user Sajeewashaluka </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/'>CC BY-SA 2.0</a>

18. Buenos Aires, Argentina (2,125)

© <a href='https://www.flickr.com/people/60951521@N00'>Flickr user Juan Ignacio Iglesias</a> licensed under <a href=’https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/'>CC BY 2.0</a>

19. Kiev, Ukraine (1,921)

© <a href='https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Sviatimage&action=edit&redlink=1'>Wikimedia user Sviatimage </a> licensed under <a href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/'>CC BY-SA 4.0</a>

20. Kolkata, India (1,904)

© <https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzoplease/6139600045/in/photolist-amx4cc-DecqNy-diK6dA-diK9jH-dUL7JF-aUVtfp-5giXLe-a1Mcxh-7o3AVM-dTDNzk-dqVPUr-ddJtim-diKeVz-dmXCwQ-diKegg-diKmKq-aRTTgk-5gj1bD-aBVxjj-dTDRd4-muw77L-zFPkh3-972Sth-cFurH1-CQh2YR-zXgbah-8NAixB-586ipZ-fTMjth-oGS12V-8NDpz1-diKi3P-cgcHcb-diK9hm-diKbiL-diKcQN-diKdgh-diKcRi-diKnyB-ci4TwG-da9YLD-diKoxZ-dURGA9-b7QRJV-diKd5c-diKcqP-dVGDsA-diKoUg-r9z6e-b9Nvxn'> Flickr user lorenzoplease CC BY 2.0</a>

You can find the complete list from Emporis on Wikipedia here.