Skyline Change: Vancouver vs Calgary vs Edmonton

[Mongo]

There is currently a poll at SSP over which of the three cities Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto will show the most proportionate change in its skyline over the next 5 or 6 years. Calgary and Toronto are running neck and neck on the poll. I had compiled some information from Emporis to post there, but I just found out that SSP will not accept Yahoo or Gmail accounts, such as my own, for registration so I am posting the information here.

I used Emporis, so there may be a few buildings missing. I used height in metres where given, but in the absence of height information, I used the floor count times 3 for a rough height (which should be reasonably close for residential buildings; office building heights are probably underestimated by 25% or so -- but since this is a statistical comparison between the three cities, and the errors are probably fairly evenly distributed, the comparison should still hold.

I divided the buildings into the following groups, each with a height (or floor) range 75% of the next higher group:

200m and over, or 67f and over
150m to 199m, or 50f to 66f
112m to 149m, or 37f to 49f
84m to 111m, or 28f to 36f
63m to 83m, or 21f to 27f
47m to 62m, or 16f to 20f
36m to 46m, or 12f to 15f

The buildings included fell into four categories: built, under construction, approved, and proposed. I included the total of u/c, approved and proposed as a percentage of 'already built' in that height range, so the higher the percentage, the greater the expected change.


TORONTO (built : under construction : approved : proposed)

200m and over, or 67f and over -- 6/3/3/0 -- 100%
150m to 199m, or 50f to 66f -- 8/6/7/4 -- 212.5%
112m to 149m, or 37f to 49f -- 49/14/12/11 -- 75.5%
84m to 111m, or 28f to 36f -- 126/14/25/40 -- 62.7%
63m to 83m, or 21f to 27f -- 294/16/22/45 -- 28.2%
47m to 62m, or 16f to 20f -- 518/23/25/47 -- 18.3%
36m to 46m, or 12f to 15f -- 679/13/28/45 -- 12.7%

36m and over, or 12f and over -- 1680/89/122/192 -- 24.0%
112m and over, or 37f and over -- 63/23/22/15 -- 95.2%



CALGARY (built : under construction : approved : proposed)

200m and over, or 67f and over -- 1/0/1/0 -- 100%
150m to 199m, or 50f to 66f -- 9/1/0/0 -- 11.1%
112m to 149m, or 37f to 49f -- 22/3/2/2 -- 31.8%
84m to 111m, or 28f to 36f -- 23/3/2/2 --30.4%
63m to 83m, or 21f to 27f -- 42/6/4/2 -- 28.6%
47m to 62m, or 16f to 20f -- 55/7/3/2 -- 21.8%
36m to 46m, or 12f to 15f -- 71/3/0/1 -- 5.6%

36m and over, or 12f and over -- 223/23/12/9 -- 19.7%
112m and over, or 37f and over -- 32/4/3/2 -- 28.1%



VANCOUVER (built : under construction : approved : proposed)

200m and over, or 67f and over -- 0/0/0/0 -- n/a
150m to 199m, or 50f to 66f -- 1/2/1/0 -- 300%
112m to 149m, or 37f to 49f -- 14/6/0/0 -- 42.9%
84m to 111m, or 28f to 36f -- 96/11/4/6 -- 21.9%
63m to 83m, or 21f to 27f -- 135/6/3/4 -- 9.6%
47m to 62m, or 16f to 20f -- 102/4/3/5 -- 11.8%
36m to 46m, or 12f to 15f -- 227/17/1/14 -- 14.1%

36m and over, or 12f and over -- 575/46/12/29 -- 15.1%
112m and over, or 37f and over -- 15/8/1/0 -- 60.0%


I conclude that Toronto is well ahead, with a total expected change of around 24% (36m+), and 95% (112m+) -- basically a doubling of the 'talls'.

Vancouver has a total expected change of around 15% (36m+) and 60% (112m+), while Calgary has a total expected change of about 20% (36m+) and 28% (112m+)

Bill

 

[simply Dan]

Excellent work - very interesting!

 

[maestro]

cool ... unfortunate you used Emporis though instead of SSP

 

[Mongo]

It is clear that a lot of buildings are missing (or have the incorrect status) on Emporis. I am taking a look at SSP, and may redo the study with their database.

I am also aware that a list of building heights is not the same as the visual impact, but it's as close as I can get with the information I have.

Bill

 

[Mongo]

Okay, here's a quick redo with SSP data, looking only at the top four height ranges (there is no 'approved' category at SSP):


TORONTO (built : under construction : proposed)

200m and over -- 6/2/6 -- 133.3%
150m to 199.9m -- 8/6/12 -- 225.0%
112m to 149.9m -- 48/13/22 -- 72.9%
84m to 111.9m -- 162/19/45 -- 39.5%

112m and over -- 62/21/40 -- 98.4%
84m and over -- 224/40/82 -- 55.8%


CALGARY (built : under construction : proposed)

200m and over -- 1/1/2 -- 300.0%
150m to 199.9m -- 9/3/5 -- 88.9%
112m to 149.9m -- 22/5/4 -- 40.9%
84m to 111.9m -- 37/11/19 -- 81.1%

112m and over -- 32/9/11 -- 62.5%
84m and over -- 69/20/30 -- 72.5%


VANCOUVER (built : under construction : proposed)

200m and over -- 0/0/0 -- n/a
150m to 199.9m -- 1/1/2 -- 300.0%
112m to 149.9m -- 17/5/1 -- 35.3%
84m to 111.9m -- 92/11/9 -- 21.7%

112m and over -- 18/6/3 -- 50.0%
84m and over -- 110/17/12 -- 26.4%


I notice that there are significant discrepancies with the Emporis data, in both directions -- both databases appear to be missing buildings that the other one has.

The big difference with the SSP data is of course Calgary, which looks a lot better with the new data. I would say that (going by this data) Toronto and Calgary are neck-and-neck, with Toronto ahead in the 112m-199m range, and Calgary ahead in the 84m-111m range (it is also ahead on a percentage basis in the 200m+ range, for what that is worth given the small numbers).

Bill

 

[maestro]

I notice that there are significant discrepancies with the Emporis data, in both directions -- both databases appear to be missing buildings that the other one has.

understandable when projects do get completed, mothballed, or simply added twice under different names (and i realize you are probably an editor as I've yet to hear of anybody that has actually paid for access in toronto)

 

[Hydrogen]

Now that British Columbia proclaims itself as "The Best Place on Earth" shouldn't Vancouver automatically receive the title of best skyline on Earth?