China

Mapped: The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide

Published

2 years ago

January 1, 2021

Avery Koop

The Top Surveillance Cities Worldwide

Since the world’s first CCTV camera was installed in Germany in 1942, the number of surveillance cameras around the world has grown immensely. In fact, it only took us 79 years to go from one camera to nearly one billion of these devices.

In the above interactive graphic, Surfshark maps out how prevalent CCTV surveillance cameras are in the world’s 130 most populous cities.

Big Brother is Watching

So how many of us are being watched? China and India are the countries with the highest densities of CCTV surveillance cameras in urban areas. Chennai, India has 657 cameras per square kilometer, making it the number one city in the world in terms of surveillance.

Here’s a closer look at the world’s top 10 cities by CCTV density.

Rank	City	CCTVs per square km	CCTVs per 1,000 people
#1	🇮🇳 Chennai, India	657	25.5
#2	🇮🇳 Hyderabad, India	480	30.0
#3	🇨🇳 Harbin, China	411	39.1
#4	🇬🇧 London, England	399	67.5
#5	🇨🇳 Xiamen, China	385	40.3
#6	🇨🇳 Chengdu, China	350	33.9
#7	🇨🇳 Taiyuan, China	319	119.6
#8	🇮🇳 Delhi, India	289	14.2
#9	🇨🇳 Kunming, China	281	45.0
#10	🇨🇳 Beijing, China	278	56.2

London is the only non-Asian city to crack the list with 399 CCTV cameras per square kilometer.

Beijing ranks in tenth place. The Chinese capital has the highest number of CCTV cameras in total, at just over 1.1 million installed in the city.

Although CCTV cameras have become extremely prevalent in cities around the world, this does not mean these cameras are seeing and recognizing our every move. In most instances, cameras are in a fixed position—and some of the more invasive aspects of CCTV, like accompanying facial recognition technology, are not universal yet.

The Need for CCTV

The ubiquity of surveillance cameras can be unnerving to some, as they represent diminishing privacy. However, there are also those that feel the presence of cameras creates added safety.

While governments like China’s claim that having high amounts of surveillance cameras helps reduce crime, the actual data gets messy. For example, the Chinese city of Taiyuan has roughly 120 cameras per every thousand people and yet the city has a higher crime index than most.

Freedom vs. Security

As surveillance networks become more sophisticated and granular, there is increasing concern about breaches to personal freedoms.

China is doubling down with surveillance in its cities by pioneering the usage and exportation of facial recognition technology. This technology is integral to China’s proposed social points system. With a database of 1.3 billion pictures that can be matched to a face on a CCTV camera in seconds, troublemaking citizens can easily be identified.

In India, on the other hand, the amount of cameras can be attributed to mass urbanization, rising crime, and scarcity of urban resources. Overall, there is a rising middle class that wishes to protect itself with the use of CCTV cameras.

As we close in on one billion CCTV surveillance cameras globally by the end of 2021, we will undoubtedly continue to be monitored well into the future.

Related Topics:cities surveillance surveillance state CCTV CCTV cameras china india

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Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

We rank the world’s leading cities with the most skyscrapers, highlighting China’s remarkable dominance in building vertically.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2023

Jeff Desjardins

Ranked: The Cities with the Most Skyscrapers in 2023

When it comes to soaring skylines and architectural marvels, no country has embraced the vertical revolution quite like China.

In this graphic, which uses data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), we reveal the 25 cities with the most skyscrapers and supertall buildings globally.

Unsurprisingly, China’s cities dominate the list, solidifying the country’s reputation as a global powerhouse of tall buildings.

The 25 Top Cities by Skyscraper Count

Topping the charts is Hong Kong, with an impressive 657 skyscrapers, including six supertalls (buildings over 300 meters tall).

Rank	City	Country	Skyscrapers (>150m)	Supertalls (>300m)
1	Hong Kong	🇨🇳 China	657	6
2	Shenzhen	🇨🇳 China	513	16
3	New York City	🇺🇸 United States	421	16
4	Dubai	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	395	28
5	Guangzhou	🇨🇳 China	254	11
6	Shanghai	🇨🇳 China	250	5
7	Kuala Lumpur	🇲🇾 Malaysia	211	5
8	Chongqing	🇨🇳 China	205	5
9	Tokyo	🇯🇵 Japan	200	0
10	Wuhan	🇨🇳 China	183	5
11	Chicago	🇺🇸 United States	178	7
12	Jakarta	🇮🇩 Indonesia	160	1
13	Chengdu	🇨🇳 China	150	0
14	Bangkok	🇹🇭 Thailand	133	3
15	Shenyang	🇨🇳 China	129	3
16	Singapore	🇸🇬 Singapore	128	0
17	Nanning	🇨🇳 China	122	6
18	Mumbai	🇮🇳 India	114	0
19	Tianjin	🇨🇳 China	109	3
20	Nanjing	🇨🇳 China	108	7
21	Toronto	🇨🇦 Canada	106	0
22	Busan	🇰🇷 South Korea	106	4
23	Seoul	🇰🇷 South Korea	104	2
24	Changsha	🇨🇳 China	97	5
25	Melbourne	🇦🇺 Australia	94	1

Hong Kong, along with Shenzhen (#2), and Guangzhou (#5) are part of the burgeoning megacity known as the Pearl River Delta, which is home to over 1,500 skyscrapers. This is even more impressive when considering that Shenzhen was a small fishing village until the 1970s.

New York City secures the third position on the list, boasting an impressive tally of 421 skyscrapers. Although it may have relinquished its title to Chinese cities, the city’s skyline endures as a globally renowned symbol, prominently featuring the iconic Empire State Building. Notably, while the Empire State Building enjoys widespread familiarity, it no longer ranks among the world’s 50 tallest structures.

Rounding out the top five is Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which grabs the fourth position with 395 skyscrapers, a staggering 28 of which are supertalls. This desert oasis has become synonymous with grandiose architecture and record-breaking structures, exemplified by the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s current tallest building at 828 meters (2,715 ft).

China’s Numbers in Context

Looking at this data from another perspective, China actually has more skyscrapers on this list than the rest of the world combined.

Country	Cities in Top 25	Skyscrapers	Supertalls
🇨🇳 China	12	2777	72
🌐 Rest of World	13	2350	67

China’s rapid urbanization, economic growth, and ambitious construction projects have fueled this impressive feat. There’s no doubt that the country’s relentless pursuit of vertical development, coupled with its booming population and thriving cities, has positioned China as the unrivaled leader in the global skyscraper race.

The Future of the Global Skyline

As the world continues to reach new heights in architectural marvels, there are even more supertall skyscrapers in the pipeline that will reshape skylines across the globe.

From the soaring Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, poised to surpass the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building, to the remarkable Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, which is set to claim the title of the world’s second-tallest structure when it opens in June 2023, these projects will captivate city dwellers for years to come.

Even as these new monumental buildings rise, China’s prominence in the world of skyscrapers—with three cities in the top five globally—is likely to remain unchallenged.