CTBUH: 2010 most successful year of skyscraper completion in history

Besides being the year in which a building first surpassed the 600-, 700- and 800-meter marks, 2010 saw the completion of more skyscrapers than any previous year in history, according to a report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

Eight buildings standing more than 300 meters (984 feet) tall were completed in 2010, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Four of these supertalls are more than 400 meters tall, making them the 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th tallest buildings in the world (see supplementary info below). That constitutes a 40 percent change in the world’s tallest 10 in the course of a single year. This has not occurred since 1930 when, led by New York’s Chrysler Building, four U.S. buildings were added to the tallest 10 list. With 2010’s eight additions, there are now 50 supertalls around the world.

China tops the list of countries with the most 200-meter-plus buildings completed in 2010, with a total of 21, three of which are among the tallest five completed. The UAE comes in second with 14, due primarily to the towers completed in the city of Dubai, which took the top spot for most 200-meter-plus buildings completed in a single city with 11. The U.S. continues to decline in its skyscraper construction, accounting for only 9 percent of buildings completed in 2010, compared to 21 percent in 2009, according to the report.