skylines

A recent post saw Whitebait misreading Myrick at Asiapundit and initially missing a great link to Diserio's 'Top 15 Skylines in the World'. It is the kind of list that makes grown anal-retentive bloggeurs go weak at the knees.

His list (including excellent images):
1. Hong Kong
2. Chicago
3. Shanghai
4. New York City
5. Tokyo
6. Singapore
7. Toronto
8. Kuala Lumpur
9. Shenzen
10.Seoul
11. Sao Paolo
12. Sydney
13. Frankfurt
14. Dubai
15. Seattle

Well, Whitebait certainly agrees on his number one and the top four overall. But to W's mind, New York should go to number two, Shanghai three and Chicago fourth. Tokyo, as readers will know, is a much beloved city for Whitebait but it doesn't rank as highly for this bloggeur in the skyline stakes. The dispersion of its skyline into multiple nodes produces a different kind of urban effect that almost takes it out of a consideration of 'skylines' in the conventional sense (though the view from the Rainbow Bridge is outstanding). In a different way places like Rome and Paris, which have sublime cityscapes, are similarly ineligible for this list. But that is a discussion for another post.

Back to the list then.  Sydney seems a bit hard done by here and to Whitebait's mind should probably pip SIngapore. As for the rest ... erm, he isn't sure as he hasn't had a chance to visit those cities and assess yet. Research funding offers welcomed.

BTW, he is not meaning to damn with faint praise when he says if we were to start a 'boutique skyline' list, Whitebait would be nominating Brisbane (viewed from Storey Bridge) as a top contender. It is certainly the best Australian city skyline after Sydney. Biggest ain't necessarily the most impressive.