"A weekend in London is like a world’s greatest hits of city living" ...so says an extract from this intriguing article today in The Times.
The feature puts forward London as being the new capital of the world.
"New York has the nostalgia, London the future. New York defines the metropolitan, London the cosmopolitan."
I couldn't have envisaged reading such sentences 10 - or even 5 - years ago.
Any reactions? Which city has the biggest buzz... Which is the coolest, classiest and most inspiring? Post your opinion below.
NB. The snapshots above comes from this video - an inspiring graphic sequence of London. Wait 2 seconds for it to begin.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Which is the capital city of the world? London or New York?
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14 comments:
This is quite the debate these days! All the New Yorkers I speak to say London is the place to be and some Londoners think New York is the place to be.....think it is equal and the grass is always greener
yada yada
Looks like in 20 years it will be either Bombay or Shanghai
Unfortunately, no more NY.
The new capital of the world is Dubai: 190 nationalities, 800 new inhabitants per day, 20% of world cranes, highest GDP/capita, highest GDP growth etc..
i dont know about the capital city, but istanbul is the hottest city of 2007, stated by wallpaper magazine
Since 9/11 it has shifted back to London and will probably stay there for the foreseeable future due to U.S. policy.
Shanghai may one day reign, but as for being the cosmo-center of world...where all people feel respected....I believe London will reign for the next 20 to 25 years without interruption. (This assumes Britain does not follow usa further into misguided foreign policy adventures.)
NY beats London any day. London's nightlife closes down too early. The food is generally lower quality. London has theatres - thats all.
New York - the home of hip hop, bagels, Italian gangster movies, Woody Allen, size 13 sneakers. Please. I'm from London born and raised but I wouldn't insult people's intelligence by questioning which city rocks the hardest.
London is more like a collection of several different villages - very charming. NY is not bad, but where's the history? It's like a 20th century Dubai.
When you're standing on Pont Neuf looking down the Seine, it all becomes quite clear...
Paris.
Neither London nor New York. Both are illusory, fuelled by vacuous hype and wishful thinking.
London has green and urban landscapes. Multidimensional nightlife, cultural scene and buzzing with business. On the other hand, it has insane prices, early closing hours, services are often rubbish and we could talk about the weather all day long and still conclude it's grey. If the Thames were dredged, cleaned and made more accessible, what a wonderful city it would truly be.
New York is more action-oriented, has a far more edgy outputs, thick with buzz, but no green. You pay to play and in the summer the rolling stench of garbage can knock you flat. It can be parochial and takes an enormous effort for any New Yorker to leave their neighbourhood. As for "hip hop, bagels, Italian gangster movies, Woody Allen, size 13 sneakers", that is so 90s, dude. Today, it is reggaeton, probiotic foods, no smoking, interwoven urban flicks, Claire Danes, belted coats and tailored dresses. In terms of the gap between rich and poor, apart from a former leper colony in Hawaii, Manhattan was the most unequal county in the US (US Census Bureau, 2005), having the same level of inequality as Guatemala.
Karen:
Sorry, but for the sake of Britpop I have to ask... do you have any relative named Sally?
Interesting comments and topic. I share r.khan's view in toto. Well put. Also I don't think that a non-English speaking city can honestly be considered the true cosmopolitan capital of the world.
Massimo
i think its dependent on the seasons...london in spring is THE best...after a long bleak winter there's nothing like a crisp morning in march walking over the river to the tate modern...
on the other hand new york in the snow rocks. its atmospheric, beautiful and brings to mind all the old xmas movies. autumn I'd have to give it to london again...and summer? neither !
Hi Claes
Amusing comment :-)
No relative called Sally, but I was nicknamed 'Sal' at university by some of the geordie guys (from Newcastle). I quite liked the nickname, but since leaving Uni, have never been called it again...
Julius Ceasar opted for Istanbul, where he said Vini, vidi, vici after defeating Pontus... and also is thought to have said if the world was one country, Istanbul (Constantinople at the time) should be its capital.
Right between East and West, the only city where continents meet...
Ah ha... at last confirmation that London is the capital city of the world!
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=88803
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