Manhattanization

Manhattanization is a neologism coined to describe the construction of many tall or densely situated buildings, which transforms the appearance and character of a city to resemble Manhattan, a borough of New York City. It was a pejorative word used by critics of the highrise buildings built in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s, who claimed the skyscrapers would block views of the bay and the surrounding hills. With careful urban planning, the phenomenon became more accepted in time. The term also gained usage as a buzzword for high–density developments in Las Vegas, Nevada, Los Angeles, Dubai, and Miami in the early 2000s and again in the 2010s. Another example is the construction boom in Toronto since 2007. 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 year 2000. Nonetheless, these cities would have to multiply their populations many times over to match the population density of Manhattan, though this is a biased comparison between a city and a district, as even the other four "outer boroughs" of New York City would have to nearly triple in population to match Manhattan's current density. Likewise, the Brickell (Miami) financial district is more dense than New York City overall.