High-rise buildings, which have significantly shaped the city’s silhouette and density, have become essential parts of the city’s identity. The fact that the height, size, and human density of tall buildings are higher than those of other buildings requires a thorough investigation of factors such as the city’s functioning, silhouette, image, density, and economy in the design process. For designers, the most fundamental resources for addressing these problems are design guidelines. The starting point of this research is the identification of common issues in design guidelines that offer guidance on establishing relationships between high-rise buildings and the elements around them. Within the scope of the content analysis method, 40 design guides belonging to 5 continents were examined. Since the ground-floor/base designs are of great importance in shaping people’s perception of the building, the contents of the guides were researched in detail. 41 criteria were obtained using the keywords, and the guidelines were compared. By highlighting the elements outlined in the guidelines, it is emphasized that, although prepared in different geographies, the guidelines propose similar solutions to the problems high-rise buildings can pose to cities.