A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft) or 150 meters (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Historically, the term first referred to buildings with between 10 and 20 stories when these types of buildings began to be constructed in the 1880s. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces.
One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel frame that supports curtain walls. This idea was invented by Viollet le Duc in his discourses on architecture. These curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete.
Modern skyscrapers' walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by large surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames and curtain walls. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a small surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a tubular structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic, and other lateral loads. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, which in some cases is also structurally required.
As of February 2022, fourteen cities in the world have more than 100 skyscrapers that are 150 m (492 ft) or taller: Hong Kong with 518 skyscrapers; Shenzhen, China with 343 skyscrapers; New York City, US with 300 skyscrapers; Dubai, UAE with 237 skyscrapers; Mumbai, India with 208 skyscrapers; Shanghai, China with 180 skyscrapers; Tokyo, Japan with 165 skyscrapers; Guangzhou, China with 152 skyscrapers; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 148 skyscrapers; Chongqing, China, and Chicago, US, both with 135 skyscrapers; Wuhan, China with 109 skyscrapers; and Bangkok, Thailand, and Jakarta, Indonesia, both with 108 skyscrapers.
