Skyline

{{short description|Outline or shape viewed near the horizon}} {{Other uses}} {{Redirect|City skyline|the video game|Cities: Skylines}} [[File:Lower Manhattan from Governors Island with a fishing boat (46294p).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Skyline of Lower Manhattan in 2021. The term "Skyline" was first used for New York City in 1896.]] A '''skyline''' is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.

City skylines serve as a pseudo-fingerprint as no two skylines are alike. For this reason, news and sports programs, television shows, and movies often display the skyline of a city to set a location. The term ''The Sky Line of New York City'' was introduced in 1896, when it was the title of a color lithograph by Charles Graham for the color supplement of the ''New York Journal''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/exhibits/movingup/labelx.htm |publisher=New York Public Library |title=Moving Uptown |quote="When Charles Graham's view of New York was published, the new term used in the title, "sky line," caught on immediately." |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229044701/http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/movingup/labelx.htm |archivedate=2014-12-29}}</ref> Paul D. Spreiregen, FAIA, has called a [city] skyline "a physical representation [of a city's] facts of life ... a potential work of art ... its collective vista."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zYFAAAAMAAJ |title=Urban Design: The Architecture of Towns and Cities |year=1965 |author=Paul D. Spreiregen |publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=9780070603806 }}</ref>

==Features== === High-rise buildings === {{Main|High-rise building}} [[File:Burj Khalifa Night View 01.jpg|thumb|Photographic silhouette of the Dubai's skyline; Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, is visible at the center.]]

High-rise buildings, including skyscrapers, are the fundamental feature of urban skylines.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tall Buildings and the Urban Skyline: The Effect of Visual Complexity on Preferences |first1=Tom |last1=Heath |first2=Sandy G. |last2=Smith |first3=Bill |last3=Lim |date=July 2000 |issn=0013-9165 |journal=Environment and Behavior |doi=10.1177/00139160021972658 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=541–556 |s2cid=5199331 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Skyscraper geography |first=Donald |last=McNeill |doi=10.1191/0309132505ph527oa |journal=Progress in Human Geography |date=February 2005 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=41–55 |s2cid=220928675 |quote=geographers have tended to neglect the substantial impact of skyscrapers on urban life.}}</ref> Both contours and cladding (brick or glass) make an impact on the overall appearance of a skyline.

===Towers=== [[File:San Gimignano 05.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|San Gimignano Towers in Tuscany, Italy]] Towers from different eras make for contrasting skylines.

San Gimignano, in Tuscany, Italy, has been described as having an "unforgettable skyline" with its competitively built towers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/550|title=Historic Centre of San Gimignano|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|website=whc.unesco.org|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804214722/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/550|archivedate=2016-08-04}}</ref>

===Remote locations=== [[File:Mount Everest as seen from Drukair2 PLW edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Mount Everest]] Some remote locations have notably striking skylines, created either by nature or by sparse human settlement in an environment not conducive to housing significant populations.

==Use in media== Skylines are often used as backgrounds and establishing shots in film, television programs, news websites, and in other forms of media.

==Subjective ranking== [[File:Hong_Kong_skyscrapers_in_a_night_of_typhoon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Skyscrapers of Hong Kong]] Skylines may be ranked based on subjective criteria. Skylines are often ranked by height and size, such as by the number of buildings taller than a certain height. The article list of cities with the most skyscrapers ranks cities based on the number of skyscrapers that are taller than {{convert|150|m}}.

Emporis was one such service, which used height and other data to give point values to buildings and added them together for skylines. The three cities it ranked highest in 2012 were Hong Kong, New York City, and Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |title=Skyline Ranking |url=https://www.emporis.com/statistics/skyline-ranking |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106210644/http://www.emporis.com/statistics/skyline-ranking |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |access-date=29 April 2021 |publisher=Emporis}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604164900/http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=skyline_ranking Emporis ranking of cities by the visual impact of their skylines]}} * {{cite book |title=Skylines: understanding and molding urban silhouettes |year=1981 |last=Attoe |first=Wayne |isbn=9780471279402 |publisher=Wiley}} * {{cite book |title=Design of Cities |first=Edmund |last=Bacon |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-14-004236-8|title-link=Design of Cities }} * {{cite journal |last1=Lim |first1=Bill |last2=Heath |first2=Tom |title=What is skyline: a quantitative approach |editor=Hayman H. |journal=Architectural Science: Past, Present and Future, Proceedings of the Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Architectural Science Association |year=1993 |pages=23–32}} * {{cite journal |last=Ford |first=Larry R. |title=The urban skyline as a city classification system |journal=Journal of Geography |year=1976 |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=154–164 |doi=10.1080/00221347608980594 |bibcode=1976JGeog..75..154F }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Skylines}}

Category:Architectural terminology Category:Cities Category:Panoramic art Category:Skyscrapers Category:Cityscapes