Manhattan of the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Tel Aviv nickname)
New York City’s borough of Manhattan is known for its tall buildings and its business and entertainment industries. Several cities have been dubbed the “Manhattan of the Middle East.”
Tel Aviv is the financial center of Israel. “Tel Aviv is considered by many to be the Manhattan of the Middle East - most certainly the epicenter of Israel’s culture, business, entertainment and nightlife” was cited in 1989.
Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “Abu Dhabi has appropriately earned its reputation as the Manhattan of the Middle East” was posted to the newsgroup comp.jobs.misc on January 26, 2000.
Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. “The documentary made a point of stating that the Emir wanted the city of Dubai to be ‘the Manhattan of the Middle East’” was posted to the newsgroup alt.tv.amazing-race on September 8, 2004. Dubai frequently became associated with the nickname of “Manhattan of the Middle East” in the 2010s.
Wikipedia: Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (US /ˈɑːbuː ˈdɑːbi/, UK /ˈæbuː ˈdɑːbi/; Arabic: أبو ظبي Abū Ẓabī Emirati pronunciation [ɐˈbuˈðˤɑbi]) is the capital and the second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (the most populous being Dubai), and also capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAE’s seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014.
Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family
Wikipedia: Dubai
Dubai (/duːˈbaɪ/ doo-by; Arabic: دبي Dubayy, Gulf pronunciation: [dʊˈbɑj]) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the country. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country’s legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the emirate’s northern coastline and heads up the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Dubai is to host World Expo 2020.
Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a major transport hub for passengers and cargo.
Wikipedia: Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew: תֵּל אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, [tel a’viv jafo], Arabic: تل أَبيب-يافا) is a major city in Israel, located on the country’s Mediterranean coastline. It is known to be the financial center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892 within city limits. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel. Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the “Silicon Wadi”.
8 February 1987, New York (NY) Times, “A Country in Meltdown” by Thomas L. Friedman, Book Review, pg. 12, col. 3:
But in the end, Lebanon is not only a human tragedy. Even discounting the warm glow of hindsight, it is also possible to say that Beirut was once a unique city, a Mixmaster of ideas and communities and a haven for radicals and scoundrels alike. It was the Manhattan of the Middle East, where you went to ‘‘make it,’’ and the one real corner of freedom in the Arab world.
8 January 1989, St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch, “Manhattan of the Middle East,” pg. T1:
Founded 80 years ago on the Mediterranean coast, modern-day Tel Aviv is considered by many to be the Manhattan of the Middle East - most certainly the epicenter of Israel’s culture, business, entertainment and nightlife.
Google Groups: comp.jobs.misc
United Arab Emirates - Middle East - Abu Dhabi - Operating Systems Engineer - 502
CareerMag.com
1/26/00
Title: Operating Systems Engineer
City: Abu Dhabi
State: Middle East
Country: United Arab Emirates
(...)
The United Arab Emirates is a federation consisting of seven sheikdoms located on the Arabian Gulf. The origin of the city of Abu Dhabi dates back to 1761 following the discovery of sweet water well on the island. With the discovery of oil in 1958, significant progress has been made in the sophisticated network of communications, roads and ports, airports and satellite communications that link the country with the rest of the world. Abu Dhabi has appropriately earned its reputation as the Manhattan of the Middle East.
3 February 2000, Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia, PA), “Israel Travel: This Teen Tour Teems With Real Excitement” by David Friedman, pg. 59:
The logical first stop for the teen traveler is Tel Aviv, dubbed by many “the Manhattan of the Middle East.”
Google Groups: alt.tv.amazing-race
Amazing Race 5, Leg 10—This Episode Is All Wet—Long Spoilers
Brent McKee
9/8/04
Amazing Race 5, Leg 10—Calcutta India to Matapara Farms New Zealand
(...)
The documentary made a point of stating that the Emir wanted the city of Dubai to be “the Manhattan of the Middle East.”
OCLC WorldCat record
Interview with MAJ Torrey Diciro.
Author: Torrey Diciro
Publisher: Fort Leavenworth, KS : Combat Studies Institute, 2006.
Series: Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library.; Operational Leadership Experiences Collection.
Edition/Format: Print book : National government publication : English
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
(...) He further discusses living conditions in Bahrain and compares and contrasts it with neighboring Dubai, which he refers to respectively as the “Las Vegas and Manhattan of the Middle East.”
Google Books
World and Its Peoples:
Arabian Peninsula
By Marshall Cavendish
Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation
2007
Pg. 118:
In modern times, Abu Dhabi is a booming modern city that is often called the Manhattan of the Middle East.
Google Books
Report : Dubai 2008
Oxford: Oxford Business Group
2008
Pg. 133:
Known as “the Manhattan of the Middle East”, the first phase of the development, which is scheduled for completion in 2010,
December 2008, Architect, “Peak Oil” by Lance Hosey, pg. 50:
Two decades ago, Dubai was a dusty coastal plain on the Persian Gulf. Today it is the Manhattan of the Middle East. Its population, which has doubled in the last 10 years, continues to mushroom, as does its skyline.
New York (NY) Times
The Dubai Melting Pot Is in the Kitchen, Too
By SETH SHERWOOD APRIL 10, 2009
(...)
Credit Dubai’s cosmopolitan population with this culinary diversity. Along with droves of Westerners and Indians, huge ranks of foreigners from Muslim nations — Moroccan airline crews, Iranian traders, Pakistani laborers, Kuwaiti billionaires — chased opportunities during Dubai’s boom, bringing their regional tastes with them while transforming the emirate into the Manhattan of the Middle East.
Google Books
The Environmental Performance of Tall Buildings
By Joana Carla Soares Gonçalves with Érica Mitie Umakoshi
Washington, DC: Earthscan
2010
Pg. 131:
Abu Dhabi instead assumed the role of the financial district of the region and it is known as the ‘Manhattan of the Middle East’.
Twitter
Sven Groeneveld
@sventennis
http://twitpic.com/31u6ii - Doha,Qatar the Manhattan of the middle east
6:11 AM - 29 Oct 2010
Twitter
Find Articles
@find_articles
Book Flights to Abu Dhabi to Explore The Manhattan of The Middle East! http://bit.ly/fPG3E4
5:04 PM - 22 Mar 2011
Twitter
Zahraa ح Al Fardan
@ZahraaHAlFardan
Dubai, Manhattan of the Middle East!
8:37 AM - 21 Mar 2012
Daily Mail (UK)
Dubai before the boom: Staggering pictures show how emirate went from desert backwater to the Manhattan of the Middle East in just 50 years
By KERRY MCQUEENEY
PUBLISHED: 07:27 EST, 15 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:29 EST, 15 May 2012
It’s widely known as the Middle East’s capital of excess; an emirate state where money and opulence reign supreme.
Dubai’s unfathomably high skyscrapers, reaching into the clouds, are matched only in size by its vast, sprawling shopping malls and its residents’ bulging bank balances.
It’s renowned as a playground for the rich, a place where entire communities of ex-pats enjoy the trappings a tax-free haven can offer.
Twitter
Israel Herald
@israelherald
Tel Aviv may have stepped closer to being the Manhattan of the Middle East in February, according to the Economi ... http://tf.to/aNxQh
4:21 PM - 11 Feb 2013
The Huffington Post
Being Gay in Tel Aviv, the Manhattan of the Middle East
10/18/2013 11:29 am ET | Updated Feb 02, 2016
Justine Borer
matrimonial lawyer/mediator and blogger at justasyouwished.com
My mom is a gay civil rights activist. Let’s get down to it: The reason I support Israel is that I found a different cause from my mom’s.
GQ
Why now is the time to visit Abu Dhabi
By Sophie Haslett 26 October 2014
Dubai’s less brash, less glitzy little sister has designs on your minibreak - and with good reason too. With a flight time of just under seven hours, year-round sunshine and beaches that can rival those far farther flung, Abu Dhabi is emerging into the limelight as not only a premium business destination but a top-notch lifestyle break. Expect traditions, beauty and grandeur on a scale you won’t have seen before. Just don’t expect to get anywhere by foot. Here’s why now is the time to visit the Manhattan of the Middle East.
Twitter
Simply Luxury
@SimplybyTravel2
#AbuDhabi, nicknamed the ‘Manhattan of the Middle East’, blends a rich Arabic past with a modern future and a wide range of #luxury #hotels.
5:10 AM - 7 Sep 2015
Twitter
NaN 1-9
@Raziaizzy
#EMPIRE earning it the nicknames “the gay capital of the Middle East” or the “Manhattan of the Middle East.” TELAVIV
2:02 PM - 26 Nov 2015
Richmond, VA
Business Insider
15 stunning photos that show how Dubai has become the ‘Manhattan of the Middle East’
Sarah Jacobs
Dec. 11, 2015, 8:19 PM
Just 15 years ago, Dubai was a sparse desert outpost. Today, it’s home to the 2,716-foot Burj Khalifa — the tallest building in the world — the 1,358-foot Princess Tower, and more than 150 other towering skyscrapers. Multimillion-dollar apartments and a bustling tourist scene have put Dubai on the radar of the ultra-wealthy.
Some are even calling Dubai “the Manhattan of the Middle East,” but its year-round sunshine and warm weather is an advantage that even New York City can’t beat. Trendy restaurants and bars, water sports, and other attractions keep both the locals and foreigners happy, and its skyline is a new level of urban beauty.