Poll: Capital City of Earth

[veloper]

It would go to the old capital of the one nation that wins at WW3.

 

[Actual]

Hong Kong.

Developed, civilised (when the Chinese Government isn't being evil), and already international being used to large numbers of Europeans.

So that's Europe and Asia who'd be happy with the choice.

I can't think of another city which would satisfy two continents, so it'll have to be this one.

EDIT: For context, I'm British and have never been to Hong Kong, nor plan to.

 

[Kair]

We raise an Atlantis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[SnipErlite]

Gotta say London, though I'm biased from having lived here all my life.

Hey, it worked for the Empire once....

 

[JoJo]

Seattle, Washington, Cause it's the closest major city to our new benevolent overlords, Microsoft.

This is completely off topic but did you know you're wearing the exactly same *cough* image of *cough* hat as me?

OT: I'd build a special micro-country somewhere in Europe for it.

 

[EllEzDee]

Is jurassic park a country?

 

[joschen]

We raise an Atlantis in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yhea, if we for the first time in human history manage to attain world peace we will need a new city as capital.

A city whiteout history or any plagues of the "Old world"(war, poverty etc). A symbol for a clean slate and faith in the future.

 

[lokun489]

There would probably be one for everyone section the world is devided into.

 

[theevilsanta]

New York. You won't find a more diverse city than that. I has influences from every spectrum of human civilization. Brussels kind of makes sense, but it's entirely too euro-centric. Putting it in China would be a huge boon to the Chinese and a huge blow to everyone else. Everyone has a stake in NYC.

 

[the rye]

I would build a new city for the capital of earth.
I would name it Metropolis.

 

[GeorgW]

I'll assume we get an entire country set up for the capital city. Like What Australia did for Canberra or Italy did for the Vatican. Make a country filled with pretty much the U.N. That's what they should do, its not what they will, its what they should though...

Pretty much. Create a separate city state or something. Although that being said where's the main UN Headquarters situated I always thought it was vienna?

It's in New York. And that's why that should be the capitol. Not because it's in USA or anything, but just because it's the easiest.

Maybe. But I'd rather the capitol be in a less dominant country (ie not USA, China, Russian Commonwealth etc). Although maybe we could make New York a city state ceceede it from the USA? That might work...

That was my thought as well, maybe I should have said that...
But yeah, it has to be a free state. All of NY doesn't have to be, the UN buildings would do, but it would be pretty awesome with the whole city.

 

[Varanfan9]

Middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It would be a floating city and would not be in any country.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

No option for Rome? It was the capital of the longest and most significant empire in history, it's quite centrally located with regard to most of the main powers, but without actually giving the US, China, Russia etc the capital (which would annoy the other capitals - you need a compromise location). It's pretty much on the meeting point of East and West (our notions of Eastern v Western hemispheres/cultures come from the old divide of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires). And it's a wealthy enough city in a G8 country, so it could handle being the capital.

 

[Lord Kloo]

Why, because New York has the UN building and is commonly considered the international governmental capital of the world.

Really? I thought that's what they ideally represent but in reality they don't have even a fraction of the impact.

Well its considered the capital for international coordination but yes you are right in that currently it doesn't have a fraction of the power it should/wants to have in practicality.. I'm sure it will be stepped up in the future..

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Throw the new world order to hell in the deepest part of the Mid-Atlantic ridge.

I don't need people on the other side of the world lobbying to tax me more out of "fairness" because my hard work means I've "stolen" every dollar I have.

One global government isn't possible as long as we still have incredibly conflicting ideologies all across the globe, and trying to force one now would lead to WW3.

 

[Soylent Dave]

New York. You won't find a more diverse city than that. I has influences from every spectrum of human civilization [snip] Everyone has a stake in NYC.

Apart from Arabs & Muslims, who I suspect aren't feeling particularly represented there at the moment.

London, for one reason and one reason alone.......GMT.

Yeah, it has to be Britain.

We're in the middle of the map and at the top and everything - that's not a coincidence.

And it definitely isn't because we drew all the maps.

-

More seriously, somewhere in Africa or the Middle East is a bit more central (in a 'equidistant from other countries' kinda way) - if being central is important.

How about Basra? It used to be the Garden of Eden and Babylon is just around the corner and everything.

 

[Rayansaki]

Either Tokyo or Beijing, leaning more towards Beijing. Dubai is another one that could be on the list! Actually, I vote Dubai!

 

[Shock and Awe]

Either Rome or New York, New York because it is one of the world's main centers of culture, trade, and commerce, plus it already has the UN headquarters. Rome because it is the Eternal City, and that would just make it awesome.

 

[_Cake_]

I think a new island should be build for it.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

A lack of Washington and Switzerland is...strange for a topic such as this. And why do most people view New York as the face of America? It's nothing to brag about and I wouldn't recommend any human being go there. Citizen, tourist, or otherwise...

New York is a lot more popular than most of your cities with people outside of the US. Remember, we're just aching to jump up and down about how half of you guys never travel overseas, and have terrible knowledge of the world outside the US, and all that. NY is an exception - it's got soul, it's got culture and it has a well-educated, well-travelled and worldly populace. It's not the only city in the US that that applies to, but it's the one that most of us see. From an Australian perspective, it's the only US city that I wouldn't mind living in. I'd still rate it lower than Melbourne, and maybe lower than Sydney (and if we're including non-Australian cities, then much lower than Berlin, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome....heck, even London). But you can spend a long time in NY without running into too many people whose ignorance of the world outside the US doesn't leave you utterly shocked - there's not many US cities that you can say that about.

Then again, when I backpacked Europe for 12 months a few years back, a New Yorker was one of the 3 US backpackers in different cities with whom I had the following conversation (am not making this up):

[me and other backpackers from different countries talking about the different weather in our respective countries]
[US backpacker]: So, would it be really hot in Australia right now?
[Me:] Well, maybe the far north, but July is the middle of our winter, so no.
[US backpacker]: [looks confused at the idea of winter in July...eventually I have to explain it to him...]
[Me:] You know, Australia is in the southern hemisphere, and if it's Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, that means it is Winter in the southern hemisphere...
[US Backpacker]: Oh....[takes it in, pauses, then speaks again]: So....what month is it in Australia right now?


This was in 3 different cities. Over different parts of that year. With 3 different people, all US backpackers. Which is really messed up, because we're not talking your cliched 'ignorant US tourist' here - we're talking folks who are interested enough to go and work for a while in different cities, and make their way around at a ground level. And they were reasonably educated people as well - one of them was even a med student!