Istanbul’s skyline rising higher amid criticism

Istanbul has become the second “highest” city in Europe with 107 skyscrapers, despite the current government’s repeated vows to create “horizontal cities.”

Istanbul is ranked 22nd in the world for the total height of its skyline, according to Hamburg-based real estate data mining company Emporis. The list is topped by Hong Kong, New York and Singapore.

Moscow, Kyiv, London and St. Petersburg are other European cities in the Top 50.

In 15th place, Istanbul ranks even higher in the list based on the total number of high buildings (not necessarily skyscrapers), with 2,305 high-rises and 107 completed skyscrapers. Hong Kong again tops the list with 1,268 skyscrapers, while New York is second with 596 and Tokyo is third with 411.

The Emporis calculations do not include TV towers, masts, bridges, or other such structures. Each building is assigned points based on its floor count, starting from 1 point for 12-19 floors to 600 points for 100 or more floors.

Four new skyscrapers have been included in Turkey’s "10 highest buildings list" in 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal Turkey. If all current plans and constructions are completed, Turkey will soon have a total of 183 skyscrapers.

Echoing previous comments from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan recently warned that “vertical structuring has increased in Turkey and cities have become ugly.”

“In the coming term, our policy will be to build horizontally, not vertically, particularly in our ancient cities,” a recently unveiled government program stated.