Dubai builds more skyscrapers than any other city in 2020

More skyscrapers were completed in Dubai last year than in any other city in the world, a new report shows.

Some 12 buildings higher than 200 metres were completed in 2020, which is an all-time high for the emirate and three more than in 2019, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's 2020 Year in Review report showed.

“Dubai has always been one of the centres globally for tall buildings and thus this position came as no surprise,” Christopher Seymour, managing director for consulting engineer Mott MacDonald Middle East, said.

“The reason there was an apparent surge in completions in 2020 was down to the upturn in commitment in investment for this type of project around five years ago aligned with the strong property market at the time – and those projects finally came to completion.”

The tallest building completed in Dubai last year was the SLS Tower in Business Bay, which at 336 metres was the 11th-tallest worldwide. Making up the top five were the 307m-high Amna Tower at Habtoor City, Jumeirah Gate (303m) at Jumeirah Beach Residences, ICD Brookfield Place (282m) at DIFC and Boulevard Point (280m) in Downtown Dubai.

The last time Dubai topped the global ranking was in 2010, the year the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, was completed. It broke Shenzhen's four-year streak as the city completing the most skyscrapers. The southern Chinese metropolis completed nine buildings above 200m last year, down from 18 in 2019.

Globally, there were 106 skyscrapers completed last year, a 20 per cent decline on the 133 handed over in 2019. This was the lowest number since 2014 as Covid-19 caused disruption across sites around the world.

The tallest building to complete in 2020 was Central Park Tower in New York City (472m). This is the first time in five years in which the tallest completed building was not in China, and the first time since 2014, when One World Trade Centre completed, that the tallest building of the year was in the US.

This is also the first year since 2014 in which no building was completed above 500m in height.

China completed more than half the total buildings in the study (56), down from 57 in 2019 and 92 in 2018.

The second-most prolific country in terms of skyscraper completion was the UAE, followed by the US with 10, and the UK with five. India completed three 200 metre-plus buildings in 2020, all in Mumbai.

In 2020, London completed four buildings over 200 metres – the most in any year – despite the shadow of Brexit hanging over the city. Three of the four are in Canary Wharf, the financial district.

The CTBUH report estimates that between 125 and 150 buildings of 200m or greater height will be completed this year.

Of the top 30 projected completions this year, 18 are in China, five are in the US and three are in Saudi Arabia. The two tallest buildings due to be completed in 2021 are Riverview Plaza A1 in Wuhan (436m) and 111 West 57th Street in New York City (435m).

The number of skyscrapers in the UAE over the next few years is set to fall as project launches slowed with a view to improving an imbalance between supply and demand.

“In the last few years, the real estate market has become significantly weaker, particularly following the onset of the pandemic and thus while we will still see completions of significant assets this year and next, the investment into new schemes is predicted to be lower,” Mr Seymour said.

Source: The National News