What 20th Century Cities should become UNESCO Heritage Sites of the future?

muppet · #1 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 11:04 AM**

My first nominee would be Athens, I would never want to see this city become highrise or lowrise sprawled (currently a sea of 6 storey buildings).

Infamous for its concrete junglism I think now, especially after the Olympic makeover, the place is beautiful and should be kept as it is, its unique:

This 1st pic is an old photo, its all cleaned and white now, but it shows the amazing density (thanx to Giorgio @ skyscrapercity for the pics):

Before the makeover, and after the Walled City in HK was razed parts of Athens, such as Kypseli, became the most crowded place on earth.

www.airphotos.gr

thanx to potiz81 @ skyscrapercity for these:

www.airphotos.gr

Lykavittos Hill and the view from the top:

www.athensguide.com

Athenian cats can CLIMB up to 12 storeys from balcony to balcony

greeklandscapes.com

www.mccullagh.org

Giorgio @ skyscrapercity

the density from satellite view, the city is basically trapped in one huge basin and hemmed in by the mountains. In the NW it's 'broken through' a gap and started to suburbanise toward the coastal strip of towns. The official population is 3.5 million, the unofficial 5 million.

www.masciarellidesign.com

Even the suburbs are relatively dense and highrise

muppet · #2 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 11:16 AM**

Antananarivo, Madagascar, pop. 1.4 million

Antananarivo is one of those places where there are no streets between many of the wooden houses, the density of two storey cottages is great - and thats what makes it unique. A vast hilly area of steeply roofed houses clinging to the sides of the hills - what by all appearances is a village - but stretching for miles in a metropolis.

www.unhabitat.org

peace.sandiego.edu

www.gotoknow.org

www.fvdmdesign.nl/

iexplore.com

www.linleygolat.com

www.cidr.org

muppet · #3 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 11:21 AM**

the most famous example that is currently listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site is Brasilia.

Not my favourite but if one example of the Corbousier style urban plan should survive, this par excellence is it.

www.theodora.com

contaxg.com

www.sonia-portuguese.com

www.offtobrazil.com

www.go2la.org

muppet · #4 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 11:26 AM**

Asmara, Eritrea, pop. 550,000

Built in moderne style by Mussolini, this city is a microcosm of Italian art deco:

home.planet.nl

www.traveladventures.org, www.backpackerinfo.net

www.wmf.org

even lowly petrol stations:

www.cityofsound.com, eur.i1.yimg.com

www.globalwanderings.co.uk

muppet · #5 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 2:08 PM**

Male, the capital of the Maldives, 80,000 people on one sq. mile in the middle of the ocean. The highest point in the entire country is 8ft.

a great nomination from Staff

www.thisismaldives.com

shaheeilyas.com

http://z.about.com

grump.yoldfart.com

www.billseye.ca

MolsonExport · #6 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 2:17 PM**

Male looks very interesting; an oasis of urbanity in the ocean.

muppet · #7 Posted **Nov 22, 2007, 2:34 PM**

Yep that place sure is unique, when the Boxing Day tsunami hit it literally sent a wave from one side of the island running off through to the other, with every street a running stream - the right side of the island was ocean, the left side was waterfall.

left of center · #8 Posted **Nov 23, 2007, 6:33 AM**

I absolutely love Athens. So much history there.

Rico Rommheim · #9 Posted **Nov 23, 2007, 6:56 AM**

Athens is so bland, so uniform that I find it captivating and beautiful!

Why is it 3.5 mil but 5 mil unofficially

muppet · #10 Posted **Nov 23, 2007, 10:17 AM**

^ah with all census counts there's a large proportion missed out who don't fill out the allocated forms, from students to immigrants (Athens happens to be the stepping stone du jour of Asian immigration into European), to those who have better things to do. A major problem is that of those who do count themselves, thousands register (at) their home towns and villages for better council funding, business interests, better tax breaks etc.

Its a similar problem across the region, in Istanbul some estimate the population to be nearer 20 million (as opposed to 13 million).

vertex · #11 Posted **Nov 24, 2007, 12:29 AM**

Ughh, 8 feet above sea level, Male may be the new Atlantis instead...

wisla_krakow · #12 Posted **Nov 24, 2007, 1:29 AM**

Rio and Sau Paolo's flavellas for sure.
Cities built before the arrival of infrastructure.

http://baixaki.ig.com.br/imagens/wpapers/BXK3113_RocinhaRJ800.jpg

http://www.rioholidays.com/rio/bilder/aktiv/favela.jpg

10023 · #13 Posted **Nov 25, 2007, 7:07 PM**

I thought the point of this thread was 20th century cities - why does it start with Athens? Great place, but about as far from a 20th century city as you can get.

staff · #14 Posted **Nov 25, 2007, 8:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

I thought the point of this thread was 20th century cities - why does it start with Athens? Great place, but about as far from a 20th century city as you can get.

Pretty much everything you see in this photo was built in the 20th century - and it is this kind of urbanity muppet is suggesting should be preserved through an UNESCO world heritage site - ie. the 20th centiry urbanity of Athens.

muppet · #15 Posted **Nov 26, 2007, 9:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vertex

Ughh, 8 feet above sea level, Male may be the new Atlantis instead...

yep its sad but the entire country of the Maldives is set to disappear with global warming. Already large chunks are starting to recede, the only option for Male is to build a giant sea dyke around the city, which would be a very risky strategy if some cyclone were to top it and make the place a deathtrap. It seems the evacuation of the entire population into India and Sri Lanka looks likely at some stage.
The other option would be to cut our carbon emmisions but hey,.

muppet · #16 Posted **Nov 26, 2007, 11:02 AM**

Rio's favelas, I can see in some future painted up and prettified (with all mod cons), especially their picturesque sitings on the hillsides. Theyve already started a few tentative steps towards greater acceptance with the city council finally accepting them as valid structures, when long they were illegal, and slowly connecting them up into the greater infrastructure. Also guided tour groups are also starting on these infamous streets.

An example of a cleaned up, touristic favelas can be seen in Buneos Aires.
These are mixed in with the older streets:

alleystreetindustry · #17 Posted **Nov 27, 2007, 2:35 AM**

no doubt, athens is gorgeous.

muppet · #18 Posted **Nov 27, 2007, 4:20 PM**

I think we definitely need an example of US style sprawl somewhere to survive the ages, and for future generations to learn from (tho' I doubt theyd put their hands up and scream as we do today). Preferably a good looking one too.

My nominee on those lines would be Seaside, Florida where they filmed The Truman Show:

www.screenshot-online.com

www.shuttersbythesea.com

images.encarta.msn.com

www.dramatispersonae.org

www.theseasideinstitute.org

www.colorado.edu

Prahaboheme · #19 Posted **Nov 27, 2007, 8:12 PM**

^ I agree that Seaside is a good recommendation for a potential 20th Century UNESCO Heritage site, but not because it is an example of sprawl (it isn't) but rather because it was the birth of a reactionary movement to sprawl: new urbanism.

muppet · #20 Posted **Nov 28, 2007, 11:46 PM**

dbl post