Skyscraper urbanisation: Visualising vertical growth, economic cycles and 3-D urbanisation

Skyscrapers, as symbols of vertical urbanisation, embody both material and symbolic dimensions of city growth. They have been associated with economic cycles, spatial constraints and global competition, yet their potential as comparative urbanisation metrics remains underexplored. Drawing on a global dataset of more than 10,000 skyscrapers taller than 100 metres, this study visualises their temporal evolution across nations and cities and introduces a relative 3-D urbanisation index to compare vertical and horizontal expansion. The results show that record-breaking towers often coincide with construction booms and sometimes precede downturns, lending partial support to the ‘Skyscraper Curse’. However, the correlation is uneven: state-led economies such as China and the UAE maintain steady construction momentum, while market-driven contexts such as the United States and Germany are more sensitive to global cycles. Within nations, similar contrasts emerge, with Shanghai’s volatility differing from Guangdong’s consistency. By linking skyscraper construction with built-up area growth, the 3-D index highlights marked disparities: only a handful of land-constrained states exceed an index value of 1, while most countries cluster near 0.7. Two trajectories emerge: constraint-driven verticalisation in small or dense territories, and expansion-driven horizontalism in larger states with extensive sprawl. Skyscrapers are thus better interpreted as temporal markers of ambition and governance rather than deterministic predictors of collapse, providing new insights into the uneven intersections of vertical and horizontal urbanisation.