One would think that the pandemic and the flexible-work policies that many companies have since adopted would have dampened enthusiasm for building tall. But, globally at least, tall-building development is moving apace. According to a recent report by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), in 2023, 176 buildings of at least 200 meters (656 feet) in height were completed worldwide, surpassing the previous record of 163 such completions set in 2018. “This reflects the resumption of projects started before the global Covid outbreak, which were temporarily halted or delayed by the ensuing material shortages, inflation increases, and other factors—but there is definitely upward momentum in the field,” says CTBUH CEO Javier Quintana de Uña. The council predicts that the trend will continue, with between 150 and 190 200-meter-plus towers reaching completion in 2024.
The tallest building finished in 2023 was Merdeka 118, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Officially opened in early January of this year, the 118-story, 2,227-foot-tall tower is now the world’s second-tallest building. It is 490 feet shorter than the record holder, SOM’s 163-story Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, completed in 2010, and 154 feet taller than the tower now in third place, Gensler’s 128-story Shanghai Tower (2015).
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