MUMBAI: The 355-metre JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Tower 2 in Dubai was the tallest among the 73 buildings completed in 2013, described as the second-most successful year for skyscrapers by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

On Thursday, the Chicago-headquartered CTBUH released it annual tall building data research report on 200-metre-plus buildings completed across the world last year. No skyscraper in Mumbai figures in the list.

At 82-storeys, Dubai's JW Marriott was still only the 27th tallest building in the world. The 823-m Burj Khalifa (163 floors) completed in 2010 in Dubai retains the top spot globally.

For the sixth year running, China had the most 200-meter-plus completions of any nation, (37) located across 22 cities. Of the 73 buildings over 200 meters completed in 2013, only one, 1717 Broadway in New York, was in the United States.

The report said the total number of 200-meter-plus buildings increased from 261 to 830 - an astounding 318%__between 2000 and 2013. "We can more confidently estimate that the slight slowdown of 2012, which recorded 69 completions after 2011's record 81 - was a blip. 2013 was more representative of the general upward trend," it said.

Asia dominated the world tall-building industry. It had 74% of worldwide completions with 53 buildings in 2013 against 53% with 35 buildings in 2012. Asia now contains 45% of the 100 Tallest Buildings in the World.

China remained at the forefront of tall-building construction in 2013. "A total of 37 200-meter-plus buildings were completed - 50% of the global total - up from 24 in 2012. The sum of heights of all 200-meter-plus buildings in China in 2013 was 8,876 meters, compared to 5,823 meters in 2012, an increase of 52.4%," said the report.

These buildings were spread across 22 cities. The tallest building to complete in China in 2013 was the 332-meter Modern Media Center in Changzhou.

Europe completed four tall buildings in excess of 200 meters in 2013, and increased its total number of supertalls (300m+) in existence from one to three (the first was Capital City Tower in Moscow in 2010). In 2013, Europe also had two buildings (The Shard, London and Mercury City, Moscow) in the world's 10 tallest completions for the first time since 1953, when two of the seven Moscow "sisters" (MV Lomonosov State University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) were completed.

In the United States, the council's height committee ruled that the spire of One World Trade Center in New York would count toward its official height. "The 541-meter building will have to wait until 2014 to officially enter the ranks of the world's tallest 10 (most likely in position number three, if briefly), when it is completed," said the report.

The CTBUH reported an interesting phenomenon at the bottom of the 100 Tallest in the World list, indicating just how fleeting the status of tall buildings can be today. Panama's 284-meter Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower, finished in 2011, entered the 100 Tallest in the World list that year, and was removed in 2013.

On the other hand, it took 83 years for the 282.6-meter Trump Building at 40 Wall Street (originally the Bank of Manhattan Building) in New York, finished in 1930, to be shown the 100 Tallest in the World exit door in 2013.

"Its place was well-earned - the last time this building was "trumped" was in 1930, when the "secret spire" of the Chrysler Building pushed 40 Wall Street to the status of "world's second-tallest" at the very last moment," the report said.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com