The Organization of World Heritage Cities

The Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) includes 215 cities in which are located sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Of the member cities,

• 7 are located in Africa,
• 38 in Latin America,
• 20 in Asia and the Pacific,
• 125 in Europe and North America and
• 25 in the Arab States.

At the moment there are also 4 Observer-members.

The OWHC organizes symposia and seminars dealing with the challenges to be met in the realm of management and strategies pertaining to the development and preservation of historic sites.

The cities involved have enclaves of historic buildings and sites, but include cities such as Valparaiso (Chile), Mexico City, Moscow and Quebec. There are no cities in the United States included.

Indian market, Santa Fe
photo by Mark Nohl via the New Mexico Tourism Department

Editorial Comment: One wonders whether Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco or Santa Fe might qualify for World Heritage status if submitted for consideration. My personal nominations would be New York and Washington. Would the loss to the world were Time Square or the Washington Mall to disappear not be greater than that of some of the sites which are in the OWHC? JAD

The Washington Mall
Source: ABC News

The National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C., was established in 1965. "The Mall is America's front porch -- open, accessible, and free -- a worthy wonder of a democratic society," says Brent D. Glass, director of the National Museum of American History. With 24 million visitors a year, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.