This week's 'Explainer' looks at the term 'Manhattanization', a high-rise densification phenomenon that has been referred to when talking up many city downtown growth spurts across the globe, including Toronto's. A look at the term at our sister site, SkyriseCities.com, provides an explanation.

Toronto's building boom is producing new downtown skyscrapers, image by Marcus Mitanis

The skyline of Manhattan, and the experience that building clustering has on the ground, elicits varied reactions. For skyscraper fanatics and lovers of big cities, walking through the urban canyons of New York City can feel like a utopian dream. For opponents of high-density development, living in a crowded and growing metropolis could alternatively seem like a nightmare. As a trailblazer of skyscraper development, Manhattan has amassed a huge swath of buildings, and it's widely considered to have one of the most impressive skylines in the world.

You can find the rest of the story on our sister site, SkyriseCities.com.