In a battle among the most picturesque skylines, Hong Kong’s majestic views has lorded over contenders such as New York, Singapore or Chicago as it was proclaimed the best in the world. Emporis, a global provider of building information, compiled a list of criteria for buildings that translated into points for buildings 12 floors or higher.

Hong Kong was the runaway winner with 128,635 points while New York City was a distant second with 40,119 points and Chicago came in third with 19,514 points.

But in such a battle for asthetic superiority where a lot of pride is at stake (and determining beauty is in the eye of the beholder), it is inevitable someone or a group of people will question the selection process. I’ve personally seen skyscrapers in Sydney, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo and honestly, I rank Hong Kong on top of them. But that’s me, and I didn’t judge based on points associated with building height or number of skyscrapers.

Although measurements that awarded points based on building height appear crude and one-dimensional, a spokesperson from Emporis said that the study used “algorithm that measures the mixture of height and breadth of a skyline”. Sounds complicated to me but I’ll take it.

Paul Zimmerman, chief executive of Designing Hong Kong, explained that the city’s iconic skyline is more than just a collection of high rises. I agree with him. It is not just the beauty of each edifice that makes it stand above its peers. It is also about how it blends well with surrounding structures and natural landscape. When a skyscraper is constructed, its design may need to satisfy restrictions so as not to adversely change the skyline’s appearance.

If we ran a global survey among tourists who have been to multiple cities mentioned in the ranking, I believe their opinions strongly count as well. With such data, we can validate the claim that Hong Kong’s skyline is the world’s best.

Hopefully, Hong Kong’s air pollution levels won’t get worse so we can continue to appreciate this free tourist attraction.