concrete jungle

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

concrete jungle (plural concrete jungles)

1. (idiomatic) An urban or other populated area containing a high density of buildings constructed of concrete or similar materials, especially one which lacks greenery and which seems unattractive, harsh, or unsafe.
   • 1948 April 9, Richard Coe, “Hellinger Mixed Real Manhattan”, in Washington Post, page 24:

     There is nothing quite like the affection of a transplanted New Yorker for his native concrete jungle.

   • 2007 October 29, “Spain aims to restore overdeveloped coastlines to a more natural look”, in International Herald Tribune‎^[1]:

     Spain plans to restore a fifth of its coastline from overdeveloped concrete jungle to a more natural state.

Synonyms

• concrete desert

Related terms

• asphalt jungle

Translations

unattractive urban area due to lack of greenery

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 石屎森林 (sek⁶ si² sam¹ lam⁴)

  Mandarin: 水泥叢林／水泥丛林 (shuǐní cónglín), 水泥森林 (shuǐní sēnlín)

• Finnish: betoniviidakko, betonierämaa, betonihelvetti (fi)
• French: jungle urbaine f
• Greek: τσιμεντούπολη (tsimentoúpoli)
• Hungarian: betondzsungel
• Italian: giungla d'asfalto f, giungla di cemento f
• Polish: betonowa dżungla
• Portuguese: selva de concreto f, selva de pedra f
• Russian: ка́менные джу́нгли m pl (kámennyje džúngli)
• Swedish: betongdjungel (sv) c
• Thai: ป่าคอนกรีต (bpàa-kɔn-grìit)