The city-state of Singapore has over 9,000 completed high-rises, the majority located in the Downtown Core, the city centre of Singapore. In the city, there are 96 skyscrapers. The Guoco Tower currently holds the title of tallest building in Singapore. It stands at 283.7m (931 ft), exempted from the height restriction of 280m in the Central Business District.
Singapore's history of skyscrapers began with the 1939 completion of the 17-storey Cathay Building. The 70-metre (230 ft) structure was, at the time of its completion, the tallest building in Southeast Asia; it was superseded by the 87-metre (285 ft) Asia Insurance Building in 1954, which remained the tallest in Singapore for more than a decade. Singapore went through a major building boom in the 1970s and 1980s that resulted from the city's rapid industrialisation. During this time UOB Plaza became the tallest building in the city-state; the 280 m (919 ft) structure was also the tallest building in the world outside of North America from its 1986 completion until 1989, when the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong was completed. The skyscraper-building boom continued during the 1990s and 2000s, with 30 skyscrapers at least 140 m (459 ft) tall, many of them residential towers, constructed from 1990 through 2008.
Since 2000, there has been a sharp increase in the number of skyscrapers under construction in the city area, particularly in the Marina Bay district. One project completed in Marina Centre is the Marina Bay Financial Centre, which includes 3 office towers offering 280,000 square metres (3,000,000 sq ft) of office space, 2 residential developments offering 649 apartments and a 16,400-square-metre (176,000 sq ft) retail mall, named Marina Bay Link Mall. There are also several new developments in the city's shopping hub, Orchard Road. The Orchard Residences is a 218 m (715 ft), 52-floor tower built in conjunction with ION Orchard, a shopping centre just beside Orchard MRT station. In addition, the 245 m (804 ft) Ocean Financial Centre, a 43-floor skyscraper, is built in Raffles Place.With Jurong Lake District envisioned as Singapore's second central business district, more skyscrapers are shaping the skyline there. However, its close proximity to Tengah Air Base meant that height restrictions apply there as well. The JTC Summit, a 142 m (466 ft) office tower built in 2000, stands as the tallest building outside the Central Region.