I think you can compare the centre of Berlin (roughly Mitte, Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg) to Manhattan in that respect

I think you can compare the centre of Berlin (roughly Mitte, Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg) to Manhattan in that respect. Those are the areas where the interesting stuff is happening that makes moving to the city worthwhile. As for Berlin most of the startup activity and economic growth is happening in that area. In addition to that all the important government institutions are located in that area, too. Rapid transit is an important factor as well. Inside the S-Bahn-Ring you can get around really fast whereas getting from say Köpenick to the inner city takes quite some time. I suppose the areas around Manhattan or Greater New York as a whole would show a very similar picture.