^{Illustration by: John Grimwade} 

A building boom is under way in the stratosphere as ego-driven developers scramble to erect the world’s tallest skyscraper. Who’ll finish first? It’s too soon to say.

Just as the U.S. sought to declare its newfound prominence in the early 1900s with a spate of soaring towers, so too are today’s emerging economic powers in Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. The difference? While the Empire State Building reigned as the planet’s tallest for 41 years (eclipsed in 1972 by the World Trade Center), future title­holders will likely eke out only a few months (or at most a couple of years) on top before being knocked out by a higher high-rise.

The International Business Center in Seoul (1,902 feet), designed to house foreign companies’ South Korean offices, is scheduled to be completed in 2008—edging out Taiwan’s 1,666-foot Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building since 2004.

Assuming it finishes on schedule (a big if, given the scale of the project), the Seoul tower won’t hold the crown for long: Two of the largest real estate companies in the United Arab Emirates are hot on its heels. Emaar Properties’ 2,296-foot Burj Dubai is also coming in 2008, to be followed two years later by Al Burj, which will be situated about 25 miles away on the Dubai waterfront. That project’s developer, Emaar rival Nakheel, is keeping Al Burj’s final height a secret, citing competitive reasons. “It’s one sheik trying to outdo another,” says Marshall Gerometta, an editor at Emporis.com, a popular wiki site for the construction industry.

But there’s a tower on the horizon that would easily dwarf Burj Dubai (and almost certainly Al Burj too). The Burj Mubarak al-Kabir, a proposed skyscraper near Kuwait City, would rise to a staggering 3,284 feet. That’s well over the half-mile mark and nearly double the height of the current ­recordholder. As you can see, it barely fits on this page.