''Manhattanization'' is a

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

coined to describe the construction of many tall or densely situated buildings, which transforms the appearance and character of a city to what is similar to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, the most densely populated borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

word used by critics of the highrise buildings built in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

during the 1960s and 1970s, who claimed the

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s would block views of the bay and the surrounding hills. With careful

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

, the phenomenon became more accepted in time. The term also gained usage as a

buzzword A buzzword is a word or phrase, new or already existing, that becomes popular for a period of time. Buzzwords often derive from technical terms yet often have much of the original technical meaning removed through fashionable use, being simply used ...

for high-density developments in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

,. and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in the early 2000s and again in the 2010s. Another example is the high rise development in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

since 2007, as well as rapid development of skyscrapers in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

since the 1990s, eventually allowing the city to possess more skyscrapers than New York. The term has even been applied to many smaller US cities that have seen a large spike in downtown high rise rental buildings since the 21st century. Nonetheless, these cities would have to multiply their populations many times over to match the

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

of Manhattan, though this is a biased comparison between a city and a district, as even the other four "outer boroughs" of

would have to nearly triple in population to match Manhattan's current density.

Frankfurt

Mainhattan Mainhattan is a term referring to Frankfurt's skyline, especially that of its central business district, the Bankenviertel. The word is a portmanteau of Main, the river on which Frankfurt lies, and Manhattan, a reference to the inner city area's ...

" is a term referring to Frankfurt's skyline, especially that of its

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, the

Bankenviertel Bankenviertel (; ''banking quarter'') is the name of the central business district in Frankfurt, Germany where many banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions are located. It is the most important German financial hub, if not o ...

. The word is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsMain, the river on which

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

lies, and

, a reference to the inner city area's visually impressive high rises and

s, a special feature for a European city. The first tall buildings were built in the 1960s. Originally, the expression was sometimes used derisively, but the

connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive ...

has changed to a positive one.

Miami

Brickell construction 2015 from elevated perspective

The term "Manhattanization" has been used to describe the 2003–2008 boom of real estate developments in

that brought the construction of more than 50 high rise buildings throughout the city. A second housing market boom took place in Miami from 2012 to present (). Along with the over ten thousand residential units added, the downtown area saw a revitalization and an increased prevalence of walking and public transport usage, similar to Manhattan. Miami is sometimes likened to a "southern Manhattan" not only for its high rises, but for its large financial district. Miami is now the US city with the third most skyscrapers (behind New York City and Chicago).

San Francisco

The term "Manhattanization" was initially used to describe the construction of large skyscrapers in San Francisco's Financial District in the 1970s. Since then, tall buildings have proliferated in San Francisco. This has expanded to the

South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city's museum ...

neighborhood. From 2000 to 2018, more than 15 buildings taller than 30 stories were built. There are now over 160 buildings taller than . This is potentially worrisome as the area where most of the skyscrapers are located is on land with high potential for

soil liquefaction Soil liquefaction occurs when a cohesionless saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses Shear strength (soil), strength and stiffness in response to an applied Shear stress, stress such as shaking during an earthquake or other ...

Santiago

Sanhattan Sanhattan, a portmanteau of ''Santiago'' and ''Manhattan'', is the popular ironic sobriquet given to Chile's capital Santiago's high-end financial district. It is located to the northeast of the capital, in the western end of the Las Condes commun ...

" has been used as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsSantiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Toronto

Downtown Toronto has experienced a construction boom since 2007, primarily in its development of condominiums and other high rise residential towers. In one week of 2014, Toronto's city council approved 755 stories of new development in the city's downtown core.

Gallery

File:Panama City (25769670394).jpg, "Panhattan", the skyline of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...

, the capital of

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

File:Business Centre of Moscow 2.jpg, MIBC, Moscow, Russia File:Wien, Donaustadt, Donau City -- 2018 -- 3265.jpg, Donau City,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria File:Shinjuku skyline, Tokyo - Sony A7R (11831328835).jpg,

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

as a symbol of the Manhattanization of

, known as "Kyohattan"

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* {{City Verbs History of San Francisco Urban studies and planning terminology Culture of Miami History of Manhattan