<P> Concerns about aesthetics and fire safety had likewise hampered the development of skyscrapers across continental Europe for the first half of the twentieth century . Some notable exceptions are the 43 m (141 ft) tall 1898 Witte Huis (White House) in Rotterdam; the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool, completed in 1911 and 90 m (300 ft) high; the 57 m (187 ft) tall 1924 Marx House in Düsseldorf, Germany; the 61 m (200 ft) Kungstornen (Kings' Towers) in Stockholm, Sweden, which were built 1924--25, the 89 m (292 ft) Edificio Telefónica in Madrid, Spain, built in 1929; the 87.5 m (287 ft) Boerentoren in Antwerp, Belgium, built in 1932; the 66 m (217 ft) Prudential Building in Warsaw, Poland, built in 1934; and the 108 m (354 ft) Torre Piacentini in Genoa, Italy, built in 1940 . </P> <P> After an early competition between Chicago and New York City for the world's tallest building, New York took the lead by 1895 with the completion of the 103 m (338 ft) tall American Surety Building, leaving New York with the title of the world's tallest building for many years . </P> <P> Modern skyscrapers are built with steel or reinforced concrete frameworks and curtain walls of glass or polished stone . They use mechanical equipment such as water pumps and elevators . </P> <P> From the 1930s onwards, skyscrapers began to appear around the world--such as in Latin America (such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, Caracas, Bogotá, Panama City, Mexico City, Monterrey) and in Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Jakarta, Singapore, Mumbai, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Bangkok). </P>

Who built the first skyscraper in the world