The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat today launched The Skyscraper Center, the world’s most comprehensive resource for data and information on tall buildings.

The Skyscraper Center contains detailed profiles and images on every completed building in the world taller than 200 meters, as well as thousands of other buildings in various stages of development. Users can easily determine the size-ranking of the tower, globally, regionally and within the country, as well as the latest news and data on the project.

“The new site builds on our database compiled through 40 years of research and adds valuable new functions, new information and extensive assets for both professionals and non-professionals exploring the world of skyscrapers,” said Timothy Johnson, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a not-for-profit organization based on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology (CTBUH), is the leading international organization for builders and designers of tall buildings and cities of the future.

The data in The Skyscraper Center spotlights the latest trends in skyscraper construction, which is in the midst of an unprecedented building boom.

The United States, once the leader in the development of tall buildings, now has only one building, the Willis Tower in Chicago (formerly the Sears Tower), on the list of the world’s 10 tallest buildings, according to CTBUH research. New York’s Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world for 41 years, is now ranked 18th on the list.

China now boasts 11 of the top 20 buildings in the world.

The homepage of The Skyscraper Center features a world map tool which can instantly generate relevant facts and tall building lists on any country in the world. The site also makes it easy to track the latest news and changes to the database.

“The site is interactive,” said Nathanial Hollister, CTBUH production coordinator and leader of the database project. “We encourage people to send in new information and images on projects.”

CTBUH plans to add several significant new elements to the center in the next few months, including robust city and country profiles which will provide detailed graphs and statistics on specific regions, he said.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a not-for-profit group based on the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology, is the world’s leading resource for professionals involved in the creation and execution of skyscrapers and the cities of the future. Founded in 1969, the group conducts independent research and facilitates the exchange of the latest knowledge available to the public around the world through events, publications and its international network of country representatives.  CTBUH developed international standards for measuring tall building heights and is recognized as the arbiter of such global designations as “The World’s Tallest Building.”