UAE third worldwide for tall buildings

Dubai - China remains first, beating previous record the country itself set

The UAE has been ranked third worldwide when it comes to the construction of super structures, with 10 buildings over the 200-metres mark having been completed in 2018, the most recent report by the Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has shown.
The yearly study by the CTBUH compiles data on all buildings above 200 metres that are completed each year. China continues its reign as the most prolific country when it comes to the construction of tall buildings, with 88 completions in 2018, accounting for 61.5 per cent of the total.
This is a new record for China, exceeding last year's figure by eight, and beating the country's previous record that was set in 2016 with 86 buildings 200 metres or higher.
The United States took second place with 13 completions, up from 10 in 2017. This was followed by the UAE with 10, Indonesia with five and Thailand tied with South Korea for sixth place, with three completions each.
Once again, outdoing its own record from last year, Shenzhen in China recorded 14 completions, making this the third year in a row in which the city completed the world's largest number of 200-metre-plus buildings, and comprising nearly 10 per cent of the global total.
Dubai was in second place with 10 completions, followed by Beijing, New York City and Shenyang in a tie for third place with eight each. Citic Tower in Beijing was the tallest building to be completed in 2018 at 528 metres. It is now the fourth-tallest building in China and the eighth-tallest building in the world.
The tallest buildings that were completed in Dubai in 2018 include Damac Heights (335.1 metres), Address Residence - Fountain Views I (283.2 metres) and The Address Residence - Fountain Views II (282.7 metres). Dubai also continues to hold on to its position as the city with the tallest building in the world.
Since its completion in 2010, Emaar Properties' 828-metre tall Burj Khalifa remains the tallest structure in the world.
The astronomical growth in tall building construction observed over the past decade continued in 2018, though the total number of completed buildings of 200 metres' or greater height levelled off at 143, after hitting an all-time record of 147 in 2017. The total number of buildings 200 metres andhigher in the world is now at 1,478, a 141 per cent increase from 614 in 2010. The year recorded 18 supertall buildings of 300 metres or greater height, more than any year previously.
The dominance of Asia as a region in terms of the proportion of the world's 100 tallest buildings continued to grow in 2018, rising to 59 buildings, from 54 in 2017. The Middle East accounted for 23. Sixteen new buildings entered the 100 Tallest list in 2018, up from 14 in 2017.
The all-time record of new entries to the 100 tallest was set in 2011, with 18 buildings joining that year.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com