Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and welcome to our third video highlighting the
New7Wonders, starting with Wonders of the World, then Wonders of Nature.
This third video is a little different, highlighting cities around the world.
This was a worldwide voting competition, so these aren’t necessarily MY top 7 cities
in the world.
The purpose of this contest was to find the cities that quote “best represent the achievements
and aspirations of our global civilization,” end quote, says founder of the New7Wonders
Foundation, Bernard Weber.
These are presented in no particular order.
We begin with Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
Beirut is incredibly old as a city, supposedly settled over 5,000 years ago.
And in that time, it’s taken on many personalities as the times have changed, meaning that it
has an interesting blend of cultures and aesthetics, including being part of the Roman empire,
conquered by Muslim invaders, ruled by the Ottomans, then eventually governed by the
French, until Lebanon achieved independence in 1975.
This city is incredibly diverse because of this history, with significant Muslim and
Christian communities, which has also caused many conflicts in the city and state of Lebanon
even in recent years.
We now travel to Doha, the capital of Qatar.
This city began by seceding from settlement called Al Bidda, eventually becoming Qatar’s
capital when Qatar gained independence from the British.
For a long time, it was known for its harbor, a very powerful position in the Persian Gulf.
Throughout the 1970s, most of Doha’s oldest buildings were destroyed and rebuilt, the
inhabitants moved to new suburban developments.
With this economic boom and rebranding, Doha also focused on education, including building
the University of Qatar.
Something called the Pearl of Qatar was also built, being an artificial island of about
a thousand acres, mostly residential, with space for over 45,000 residents.
It also has many shops, restaurants, and more, all on entirely artificial land.
Doha is interesting in that it houses a majority of not-Qatari people, mainly South Asian countries
and other Middle Eastern countries.
The Pearl was built to help accommodate the massive influx of non-natives.
Now we head to Durban, South Africa.
This is another ancient city, with archaeological evidence showing that hunter-gatherers lived
in this area far back as 100,000 BCE.
The modern settlements that became Durban began in the 1800s when travelers and merchants
settled on the coast.
The city itself is on the Indian Ocean, the busiest trade port in South Africa, which
helped the city grow into what it is today.
Now, the city flourishes with tourism, with huge sporting venues, cruise ships coming
into the harbor, and some incredibly beautiful beaches.
Next up: Havana, the capital of Cuba.
The city itself was founded by the Spanish as they conquered the Americas, a convenient
stop for their ships.
As the city grew, it was often besieged by pirates and was vulnerable to attacks by the
British, so large fortifications were built to make the city more sturdy.
Eventually these fortifications were mostly removed as the city needed to expand.
A lot of different countries controlled the city, and Cuba generally,
and that includes a time when the US occupied the island,
until Fidel Castro began a communist regime following in the footsteps of the U.S.S.R., until the
U.S.S.R. fell and so did the economic boost in Havana.
They’re now turning more and more to tourism, so large investments have been done to restore
older sections of the city that might serve as attractions.
Off to Kuala Lumpur, the capital and largest city in Malaysia.
It began a little rough though, as the jungle atmosphere and lack of sanitation made the
city prone to disease, as well constant flooding.
It was even completely destroyed several times before it was eventually built and developed
into a major city.
Railways and public transportation were built and massive skyscrapers shot up to the sky,
including the tallest twin towers in the world, the Petronas Towers, which features a skybridge
connecting the 41st and 42nd floors, for recreational use as well as structural.
It also allows for people to evacuate the building in case of a fire or other disaster.
Now, flooding continues in Kuala Lumpur but the city was built with this in mind and the
people that live there are pretty used to it now.
Now we head to the highest capital city in the world, La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.
It’s the highest capital sitting at almost 12,000 feet, or nearly 4,000 meters, above sea level.
It was settled by Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s, until they gained their independence
in 1821 following the Spanish American Wars of Independence.
Some of these older buildings and monuments from this time have crumbled, and many more
are in jeopardy, as it’s often cheaper to build new structures than restore the old ones.
It is a vibrant city, with tourism a major focus and a flourishing nightlife.
La Paz has an extensive network of cable cars that can help people traverse the city, the
largest urban cable car network in the world.
And lastly we have the city of Vigan, in the Philippines.
Like some other cities on this list, this city has many cultures woven together.
It was first colonized by the Chinese and then later the Spanish, so it has architecture
from both, as well as native Pilipino characteristics.
This is one of the few cities left in the Philippines with this much Spanish architecture
left, so tourists come to the city to marvel at its cobblestone streets and other signature locations.
Well that’s it!
There’s likely cities that YOU would include on this list, so let me know down in the comments
what cities you think deserved a spot.
And this wraps up our trilogy of videos on the New7Wonders Foundation, so thanks for
sticking with me and hopefully you enjoyed them! Thanks for watching!