Chicago

From modern skyscrapers like the John Hancock Center and the Sears Tower — the world’s tallest high-rise building for more than 23 years ending in 1997 — to earlier icons such as the 1895 Reliance Tower and 463-foot-tall Chicago Tribune Tower, completed in 1925, Chicago boasts a skyline of monumental proportions. Says Andres Lepik, architecture and design curator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City and author of the book Skyscrapers. “As far as great American skylines go, for me it’s mostly New York and Chicago.”

In Pictures: More of the World's Most Stunning Skylines

Sydney

More people recognize the glorious Sydney Opera House than have probably ever been to an opera. A protected park behind the iconic structure serves to frame the modern skyline behind it, and there’s the expansive blue of Sydney Harbor in the foreground. “Sydney has one of world’s most fascinating skylines,” says Lepik. Star architect Renzo Piano added the 44-story Aurora Place to Sydney’s downtown mix in 1996.

Dubai

It was clear with the erection of the 1,053-foot-tall Burj al Arab Hotel in 1999 that the sheikdom of Dubai was bent on stealing the global skyline spotlight. Lest there be any doubt, consider that this year Dubai will be home to the tallest skyscraper in the world: the 1,900-foot Burj Dubai tower. It already soars above the rather dismally named Business Bay district. Though Lepik says he wouldn’t call Dubai’s skyline beautiful because “it’s grown too fast, without a general idea of what they’re trying to achieve,” Dubai makes it on this list by dint of sheer boldness. In the pipeline: Zaha Hadid’s “Dancing Towers,” the Da Vinci Rotating Tower and 0-14 Tower.

Seattle

Seattle’s location between Puget Sound and Lake Washington lends an impressive backdrop to its central skyline, of which the Space Needle has been the most recognizable feature since its completion in 1962. Though it isn’t the city’s tallest structure — that distinction goes to the 76-story Columbia Center — it often appears so because of its position on a hill some four-fifths of a mile northwest of most of the skyscrapers downtown. With Mount Rainier in the distance, Seattle’s skyline comes with a romantic frontier feel.

Paris

It’s an absence of skyscrapers that defines the French capital’s skyline (with no usable surfaces, the Eiffel Tower doesn’t count). Thanks to its concentration of historic slate gray-roofed six- and seven-story buildings, many of which date from the mid-19th century and before, Paris has a remarkably uniform skyline for a city of its size. Lending romance to the cityscape are the familiar historic monuments such as Notre-Dame, the domes of Sacre-Coeur and the Sorbonne and the grandiose roof of the Palais Garnier opera house.

Houston

“Houston has the Transco Tower and also Pennzoil Place, two towers that kiss,” say New York architects Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat, partners in Stamberg Aferiat Architecture in New York, “and all three are Philip Johnson buildings.” They add, “the bizarre thing about Houston is that you can have a 50-story building next to a one-story building, for an entire city block, so you have these sort of large holes that exist between the towers.”

London

London’s Parliament and Big Ben “were skyscrapers in their time,” say Stamberg and Aferiat. “And today London has some amazing modern buildings, such as The London Eye and the Norman Foster-designed ‘Gherkin’ building, which looks like a giant pickle. So you have these contemporary pieces punctuated against the fabric of an old city that make it recognizable and also very romantic.”

Hong Kong

Whether you’re gazing at Hong Kong’s brash skyline from Victoria Peak or across the harbor from the Kowloon side, you’ll be taking in one of the most spectacular urban landscapes in the world. Says Lepik, “Hong Kong decided in the ‘80s to redesign the image of the city. In the run-up to Hong Kong’s reversion to China, it was decided to give the city a strong image to command world attention and make it an attraction. It started with Norman Foster’s Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters, then I.M. Pei’s Bank of China building, which was a reaction to that one.”

In Pictures: More of the World's Most Stunning Skylines