From Hong Kong to New York, these major cities all have one thing in common: spectacular architecture. Here's a look at their jaw-dropping skylines.
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To no surprise, Dubai has one of the most insane skylines in the world. Not only does it have the world's fourth tallest hotel – seen in the foreground – it's also home to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,717 feet above the ground.
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Completed in March of 1996, Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers – an 88-story structure – quickly rose to fame in the country and around the world. In 2009, Alain Robert, dubbed the "French Spiderman," successfully scaled the soaring building in under two hours – and without any safety equipment.
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Home to Australia's second tallest building, Melbourne is gaining a reputation for having the country's most enviable skyline. With towers like the Eureka, it's easy to see why.
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CN Tower, the Canadian city's most recognizable structure, certainly stands out for its height. But don't count on this for much longer. According to Urban Toronto, there are at least ten soaring buildings already planned in the area, meaning some competition for the tower.
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As the capitol of Taiwan, you'd expect to find some impressive architecture in Taipei. The city's most prominent building, the 101 Tower, currently holds the title for the fastest elevator across the globe, rising at 55 feet per second, as reported by Curbed.
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From the Empire State Building to the Chrysler Building, the skyline in good ol' New York, New York, is jam-packed with famous towers. That includes One World Trade Center – the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan and all of America... for now. And in case you were wondering, that whole "dropping a penny from the Empire State building could kill a pedestrian" thing, total urban legend.
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You're likely familiar with Big Ben and the London Bridge, maybe you've even ridden the London Eye – the city's famous ferris wheel that averages 3.75 million visitors a year, according to London Skyline. Another site to see is the Shard, which, from the top, offers 40-mile wide views in every direction.
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The International Commerce Centre has helped to revamp the Hong Kong waterfront ever since it was completed in 2010. Construction was no easy feat, though. It took a total of eight years to build and cost so much money that the final budget was never revealed publicly.
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The city's most well-known skyscraper might be the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, but its first – in fact, the first in the world – was the Home Insurance Building, designed by William Le Baron Jenney and built in 1885.
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Brighton, England
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As the world's first ever vertical cable car — and the world's tallest moving observation tower — the new British Airways i360 makes the Brighton seafront a fresh must-see locale from the sky. A "donut" pod, created by the same firm behind the London Eye, takes passengers 450 feet into the air and provides 360-degree views of 26 miles of Brighton and the coastline.
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Bangkok
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The recently-debuted MahaNakhon building adds an entirely new shape to the Bangkok skyline with its "pixelated" facade and glimmering lights. At 1,029 feet, the 77-story building is the tallest in Thailand, and is designed for residential, retail and hotel use.