20 Mega-Tall Buildings By 2020

 This week, we covered news that Hitachi was building a superfast elevator to zip passengers from the first floor of the CTF building in Guangzhou, China, to the 95th in 43 seconds. That kind of speed, 20 meters per second, is almost a requirement if a person is going to reach their destination in the kind of super tall buildings popping up around the world.
The story inspired us to look at the growth of extreme skyscrapers and devote this week's Tasty Tech slideshow to the 20 buildings expected to reach "mega tall" status by 2020, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
In 2000, the average height of the tallest buildings was 1,230 feet. By 2010, that average rose to 1,440 feet and by 2020, the average height is expected to reach 1,962.
CTBUH predicts that within this decade, we will see a kilometer-tall building. That's 3,280 feet!
Here are 20 buildings -- from the tallest to the "shortest" -- that the council expects to see piercing skylines by 2020, if they aren't already.

Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Height to tip: 3,281
Number of elevators: 59
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2019

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE

Height to tip: 2,723
Number of elevators: 58
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completed 2010

Ping An Finance Center, Shenzen, China

Height to tip: 2,165
Number of elevators: 76
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Seoul Light DMC Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 2,101
Number of elevators: 43
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion date not scheduled

Signature Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia

Height to tip: 2,093
Number of elevators: unknown
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2020

Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China

Height to tip: 2,073
Number of elevators: 106
Top elevator speed: 18 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2015

Wuhan Greenland Center, Wuhan, China

Height to tip: 2,087
Number of elevators: 84
Top elevator speed: 12.5 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2017

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Height to tip: 1,972
Number of elevators: 96
Top elevator speed: 6 meters/sec
Completed 2012

Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin, China

Height to tip: 1,957
Number of elevators: unlisted
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2016

Lotte World Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 1,824
Number of elevators: 58
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Doha Convention Center Tower, Doha, Qatar

Height to tip: 1,808
Number of elevators: unknown
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion date not scheduled

One World Trade Center, New York, United States

Height to tip: 1,792
Number of elevators: 71
Top elevator speed: 10.16 meters/sec
Completed 2014

The CTF Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China

Height to tip: 1,739
Number of elevators: 86
Top elevator speed: 20 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Tiajin CTF Binhai Center

Height to tip: 1,739
Number of elevators: 59
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2017

Dalian Greenland Center, Dalian, China

Height to tip: 1,699
Number of elevators: 37
Top elevator speed: 9 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2017

Pentominium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Height to tip: 1,693
Number of elevators: 23
Top elevator speed: 8 meters/sec
Completion date not scheduled

Busan Lotte Town Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 1,674
Number of elevators: 45
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2020

Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Height to tip: 1,667
Number of elevators: 61
Top elevator speed: 16.8 meters/sec
Completed 2004

Kaisa Feng Long Center, Shenzhen, China

Height to tip: 1,640
Number of elevators: 61
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completed 2011

Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China

Height to tip: 1,622
Number of elevators: 91
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completed 2008