Both are water cities, the central island of Venice commanding its archipelago, the island of Manhattan supreme among the boroughs of New York, and the architectures of both have been decreed by their insularity.
Dave Hill's post-Olympics visions: Venice-style water cities and gateways to hell TalkSport's owner says the BBC should do more for minority sports Video highlights: in the build-up to the Olympic Games watch news, interviews and much more.
For instance, there are exceptional opportunities to create more of the amenities, like canals, lakes and ponds, that grace other world class water cities such as Amsterdam and Venice.
The Netherlands, with about 20% of its land area and population located below sea level and 50% of its land lying less than a metre above sea level, has long been famous for the beauty of its thriving water cities and best-in-class flood protection systems.
In search of an appropriate solution, Amsterdam-based architects NLÉ have demonstrated a new form of floating buildings for Makoko and similar water cities in Africa and elsewhere.
Increasingly, high-density, mixed-use cities will be surrounded by lower density, special-character cities: mountain cities, garden cities, water cities, rural cities, even forest cities.
