What city or cities would be the "cultural" capital of the world? (home, theatres)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think there are really only 3, maybe 4 that can seriously be considered for this title, but I'll break it down by continent anyways.
Africa-As far as I see, no genuine candidates for such a title. Closest would probably be Cairo, and it is a globally iconic and relevant historical city, but it is more regional at this point.
Asia-I think as far as culture goes, a similar thing is true. That doesn't mean that Hong Kong, Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, etc. aren't hugely relevant (they are)-just that I'm not sure there is a single place in one of those, that the entire world directly takes their cues from.
Oceania/Australia-Same-Sorry again, Melbourne and Sydney are wonderful cities and perhaps on some level can't be beat in terms of varied qualities, but I don't believe any are globally defining, though Sydney to a smaller degree I think can perhaps make a case (Bondi Surf Culture, Opera House, etc.)
South America: Again, no, and that isn't taking away from the wonderful culture offered in Rio, BsAs, and even smaller cities like Cusco, Cartagena, and Valparaiso, it's just I don't think any of those can honestly claim to be the world's center of culture. Rio perhaps comes closest given that it's a melting pot, it is the spiritual home of the world's famous sport, the stunning landscapes and lifestyles, the world's most famous beach arguably, and the world's biggest party (Carnival). Still probably not, but it is indisputably a globally relevant cultural center, perhaps with more influence going outside it that people would be aware of from that standpoint of any continent I've listed so far, save for perhaps Istanbul.
Europe: Has many tremendous centers of the things you speak of. However, choosing best and defining? Well, Rome, maybe the best place to see historic art/heritage/history/architecture, and one could argue it played the greatest role in shaping our modern world. However, it isn't I would say, relevant in that way today, it is more a museum city. That really to me (and again, not disputing how great Madrid, Barcelona, etc. are), London and Paris. I know that is a cliche answer. But Paris hosts UNESCO, a plurality of the greatest museums/theatres in the world, so many international think tanks, is hyper diverse, and is known globally as defining streetscapes, food, romance, and many other things. London likewise, though perhaps in a less charming way, London has the heritage effectively of a Rome but while simultaneously being a global command center in present times and shaping the way so much of the world does things nowadays, besides having the West End, the literary culture, the museums etc.
North America: Two cities here, again cliches, rise above, though one more a surprise than the other: NY and LA. New York is an obvious given Broadway, The Met, Carnegie Hall, and numerous other local events, festivals etc. interspersed throughout the city. Los Angeles is more of a late riser, and frankly, on a number of the things you mention (theatres, museums, festivals, at least), I would say potentially lags behind. That said, it is the absolute heartbeat of the global entertainment industry, and probably has almost more creatives, makers etc. present there than any city in the world, besides the fact so many other trends have been born there.
So, New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles to me. Now, taking down from your criteria, you said theatres. That leaves New York and London above the other two. Museums (New York, London and Paris shine) Festivals: I think all perform well there, as they also do in events (though I'll mention, LA has hosted 3 olympics as have London/Paris, NY hasn't hosted one). Concerts, again, all do well.
Based on whittling it down fully though, I'll, at least for now, say London. To me, there is no place better to find what happened before, what's happening now, and what is coming ahead.
I think there are really only 3, maybe 4 that can seriously be considered for this title, but I'll break it down by continent anyways.
Africa-As far as I see, no genuine candidates for such a title. Closest would probably be Cairo, and it is a globally iconic and relevant historical city, but it is more regional at this point.
Asia-I think as far as culture goes, a similar thing is true. That doesn't mean that Hong Kong, Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, etc. aren't hugely relevant (they are)-just that I'm not sure there is a single place in one of those, that the entire world directly takes their cues from.
Oceania/Australia-Same-Sorry again, Melbourne and Sydney are wonderful cities and perhaps on some level can't be beat in terms of varied qualities, but I don't believe any are globally defining, though Sydney to a smaller degree I think can perhaps make a case (Bondi Surf Culture, Opera House, etc.)
South America: Again, no, and that isn't taking away from the wonderful culture offered in Rio, BsAs, and even smaller cities like Cusco, Cartagena, and Valparaiso, it's just I don't think any of those can honestly claim to be the world's center of culture. Rio perhaps comes closest given that it's a melting pot, it is the spiritual home of the world's famous sport, the stunning landscapes and lifestyles, the world's most famous beach arguably, and the world's biggest party (Carnival). Still probably not, but it is indisputably a globally relevant cultural center, perhaps with more influence going outside it that people would be aware of from that standpoint of any continent I've listed so far, save for perhaps Istanbul.
Europe: Has many tremendous centers of the things you speak of. However, choosing best and defining? Well, Rome, maybe the best place to see historic art/heritage/history/architecture, and one could argue it played the greatest role in shaping our modern world. However, it isn't I would say, relevant in that way today, it is more a museum city. That really to me (and again, not disputing how great Madrid, Barcelona, etc. are), London and Paris. I know that is a cliche answer. But Paris hosts UNESCO, a plurality of the greatest museums/theatres in the world, so many international think tanks, is hyper diverse, and is known globally as defining streetscapes, food, romance, and many other things. London likewise, though perhaps in a less charming way, London has the heritage effectively of a Rome but while simultaneously being a global command center in present times and shaping the way so much of the world does things nowadays, besides having the West End, the literary culture, the museums etc.
North America: Two cities here, again cliches, rise above, though one more a surprise than the other: NY and LA. New York is an obvious given Broadway, The Met, Carnegie Hall, and numerous other local events, festivals etc. interspersed throughout the city. Los Angeles is more of a late riser, and frankly, on a number of the things you mention (theatres, museums, festivals, at least), I would say potentially lags behind. That said, it is the absolute heartbeat of the global entertainment industry, and probably has almost more creatives, makers etc. present there than any city in the world, besides the fact so many other trends have been born there.
So, New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles to me. Now, taking down from your criteria, you said theatres. That leaves New York and London above the other two. Museums (New York, London and Paris shine) Festivals: I think all perform well there, as they also do in events (though I'll mention, LA has hosted 3 olympics as have London/Paris, NY hasn't hosted one). Concerts, again, all do well.
Based on whittling it down fully though, I'll, at least for now, say London. To me, there is no place better to find what happened before, what's happening now, and what is coming ahead.
This is such an awesome post that I enjoyed reading a lot. It brought me good memories of my time in Paris and London <3 it’s amazing that NYC which is called the “capital of the world” haven’t ever hosted the olympics. In 2005 those three cities plus Moscow were bidding to host the olympics in 2012 And NYC fell behind London, Paris and Madrid. The real competition was always between London and Paris.
This is such an awesome post that I enjoyed reading a lot. It brought me good memories of my time in Paris and London <3 it’s amazing that NYC which is called the “capital of the world” haven’t ever hosted the olympics. In 2005 those three cities plus Moscow were bidding to host the olympics in 2012 And NYC fell behind London, Paris and Madrid. The real competition was always between London and Paris.
Glad you enjoyed : )
I don’t think NY is as good an Olympic City as either of those two. However, I do sometimes wonder why it has NEVER been chosen to host (if it’s considered too big a security risk, etc). Though, I think the more practical reason is perhaps that it for whatever reason isn’t considered as good an Olympic City as LA is? So each time the bid has come up, LA has gotten it instead.
Atlanta ended up getting it a few years back though, and (not knocking Atlanta as I think it’s a super cool city, I think the complaints were because of the heat), it got knocked down along with other US cities bidding in subsequent years. Meanwhile, LA has brand new venues, is perhaps a little less dense and thus easy to manage crowds, and additionally, the weather is virtually perfect for human habitation and athletic feats, so why go anywhere else (esp. when I hear that 1984 LA was absolutely beloved as a games long term and set precedents for modern mega scale of the event).
The world is actually divided up into "spheres" (generally based on language) and you have cities (or 2-3) that have a certain amount of dominance over their spheres.
The French sphere is a good example - it's totally dominated by Paris.
There is aRussian language sphere also that revolves around Moscow and which overspills the boundaries of Russia, into areas where they've historically imposed their language and culture.
The Spanish language sphere also exists, and Madrid and Mexico City duke it out for dominance with honourable mention to Buenos Aires maybe.
The Portuguese sphere as you can imagine is dominated by Lisbon and Rio/Sao Paulo depending on the circumstances, but it extends beyond those two countries to places like Angola in Africa.
That said, I think that the dominant anglosphere cities (NYC and London) exert a lot more influence in the other "spheres" than cities from the other spheres influence them.
Chinese people go bonkers for Harry Potter and people in Tokyo fill arenas for Garth Brooks. Americans or Brits don't typically do the same for cultural exports from any of the other spheres. You got 100,000+ out for Queen concerts in Brazil...
So I would probably pick either NYC or London for this one. Probably NYC first and London a very close second.
The world is actually divided up into "spheres" (generally based on language) and you have cities (or 2-3) that have a certain amount of dominance over their spheres.
The French sphere is a good example - it's totally dominated by Paris.
There is aRussian language sphere also that revolves around Moscow and which overspills the boundaries of Russia, into areas where they've historically imposed their language and culture.
The Spanish language sphere also exists, and Madrid and Mexico City duke it out for dominance with honourable mention to Buenos Aires maybe.
The Portuguese sphere as you can imagine is dominated by Lisbon and Rio/Sao Paulo depending on the circumstances, but it extends beyond those two countries to places like Angola in Africa.
That said, I think that the dominant anglosphere cities (NYC and London) exert a lot more influence in the other "spheres" than cities from the other spheres influence them.
Chinese people go bonkers for Harry Potter and people in Tokyo fill arenas for Garth Brooks. Americans or Brits don't typically do the same for cultural exports from any of the other spheres. You got 100,000+ out for Queen concerts in Brazil...
So I would probably pick either NYC or London for this one. Probably NYC first and London a very close second.
Why Buenos Aires is below Mexico and Madrid. I would rank it #1 in the Spanish sphere. I was there in 2012 and it was super cultured. Lots of theatres and galleries (more than in Madrid). There was an area that looked like the broadway district in NYC. I remember it was located near the huge Avenida 9 Julio. There was also this amazing bookshop inside a coffee shop. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/t...iful-bookshop/
And the famous cemetery that looks like a museum.
Buenos Aires has something unique like Tango, La Boca. There you can tell Argentina’s passion for football in a way that I didn’t see in Spain/Mexico. It’s a religion there. The bbq restaurants! It’s such an amazing city but right now they are experiencing a massive economic crisis.
Last edited by usuariodeldia; 10-06-2020 at 08:55 PM..
Why Buenos Aires is below Mexico and Madrid. I would rank it #1 in the Spanish sphere. I was there in 2012 and it was super cultured. Lots of theatres and galleries (more than in Madrid). There was an area that looked like the broadway district in NYC. I remember it was located near the huge Avenida 9 Julio. There was also this amazing bookshop inside a coffee shop. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/t...iful-bookshop/
And the famous cemetery that looks like a museum.
Buenos Aires has something unique like Tango, La Boca. Then you can tell Argentina’s passion for football in a way that I didn’t see in Spain/Mexico. It’s a religion there. The bbq restaurants! It’s such an amazing city but right now they are experiencing a massive economic crisis.
Bs. As. is one of my favourite cities in the world (seriously) and I actually like it more than the other two, but in terms of overall influence in the Spanish speaking world I think it's behind the other two. In terms of talk shows, TV shows in general, movies, media, etc. (and also business, though not the topic of this thread), Madrid and Mexico DF carry more weight IMO.
Nobody has mentioned Istanbul. I’ve never been, but from what I know, it could definitely be a contender for Eurasia. Hell, it might even be up there with the great European capitals due to its long and fascinating history, unique European/Asian culture, its traditions of literature and the arts. It was one of the largest, if not the largest city in the the Western World, and a proper global metropolis when London and Paris were small, regional urban centers. It has continued to be a vibrant metropolis and mosaic of cultures from all over the Mediterranean, the Levant and Middle East, Anatolia, and Africa. .
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
