Skip to content

New 7 Wonders Cities

2014

New 7 Wonders Cities

Chosen by millions of votes from all over the world

Durban

city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Vigan

capital city of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines

Doha

capital of Qatar

Havana

capital city and commercial centre of Cuba

Kuala Lumpur

capital of Malaysia

Beirut

capital of Lebanon

La Paz

De facto capital city of Bolivia

Dubai 07.12.2014

Announcement of the New7Wonders Cities

since 2014

Inauguration Events

While the last voting phase we had amazing events at each Finalist

2013 - 2014

The 28 Finalists

The New 7 Wonders Cities have made it out of 28 Finalists within that last voting phase

2013

Panel of Experts

The panel selected 28 Finalists from the global voted list of 77 potential Wonders

Professor Amitabh Kundu

Scientist

His article for The Economic and Political Weekly, published in Mumbai, and enjoying a global reputation for independent scholarship and critical thinking, have titles such as “Making Indian Cities Slum-Free” and “Politics and Economics of Urban Growth”. Along with being the Professor of Economics at the Centre for the Study of Regional Development and Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Dr. Amitabh Kundu is a Visiting Professor at the University of Amsterdam, the Maison des Sciences de L’homme in Paris and the South Asian Institute in Heidelberg, Germany.

Zaha Hadid

Architect

The first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, the Iraqi-British architect has designed buildings all over the world, and is considered one of the most gifted professionals working in the field today. Consistently pushing the boundaries of architecture and urban design, Hadid, who once said she does not create “nice buildings”, is famous for sinuous and curving forms such as those of the Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics. Other notable Hadid projects include the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, the MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome and the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi.

Simon Anholt

Policy Advisor

In his 2010 book, Places: Identity, Images and Reputation, Simon Anholt wrote that “richness and complexity are valuable image attributes for any country, city or region.” In his previous work — Competitive identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions — he suggested that the term “place brand” is an ideal metaphor for a city’s reputation, and his groundbreaking work on understanding and managing reputation identity has ensured Simon Anholt an international career as an independent policy advisor to national, regional and city governments as they develop and implement strategies for enhanced global economic, political and cultural engagement. simonanholt.com

Bernard Weber

Founder & President of New 7 Wonders

By leveraging the networked power of communications technologies and social media, Bernard Weber has created a virtual voting platform that enables millions of people to take part in democratic decision making. The Swiss-born visionary behind the New7Wonders campaigns is dedicated to creating “Global Memory” based on a “canon of 7” chosen by a universal electorate through a process of worldwide dialogue. He grew up with architecture and urbanism, as his mother was one of the closest associates of the architect, artist and city planner, Le Corbusier, during his last 7 years. Le Corbusier also designed her private museum in Zurich, which today serves as the headquarters of New7Wonders.

Professor Winy Mass

Director of The Why Factory

As the director of the Why Factory, a research institute for the future city that he founded in Delft in the Netherlands, Winy Maas combines his two principal passions: architecture and urbanism. These two disciplines are central to the work of MVRDV, a Rotterdam-based architecture and urban design practice he started in 1993 with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. Its innovative philosophy has earned MVRDV a respected position across the international architecture scene. Underpinning the thinking of Winy Maas is his work as part-time Professor of Architectural Design at Delft University of Technology.

Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza

Former Director-General of UNESCO

The former Director-General of UNESCO, Spain’s Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza, has been appointed president of the panel. During the twelve years he spent as head of UNESCO (1987-1999), Prof. Mayor gave new momentum to the Organization’s mission, “to build the bastions of peace in the minds of men,” embodied in the Culture of Peace Program. In December of 2002, Prof. Mayor was named Chairman of the European Research Council Expert Group for the knowledge-based economy, in which Europe should have leadership in 2010. In October 2005, Prof. Mayor was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to be co-chair of the High-Level Group for the “Alliance of Civilizations.” In addition to his numerous scientific publications, Professor Federico Mayor has published four books of poetry, including “El fuego y la esperanza and Terral”, and several books of essays, such as “The World Ahead: Our Future in the Making”, “Mañana siempre es tarde”, “La paix demain?” and “UNESCO: un idéal en action”. www.fund-culturadepaz.org

Kennedy Odebe

President and CEO of Shining Hope for Communities

Kennedy Odebe is one of Africa’s outstanding community organizers and social entrepreneurs. He was born and raised in Kibera, an informal settlement on the perimeter of Nairobi and one of the largest slums in Africa, where he experienced firsthand the harsh realities or urban poverty. Kennedy received a scholarship to Wesleyan University and graduated in 2012 with honors in Sociology. As well as being a senior fellow with Humanity in Action, he is an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow. He divides his time between Nairobi and New York City.

Voting Procedure

Global Vote for Nominees

Phase 1

1200+

Nominees

220+

Countries

The global vote for New7Wonders Cities started 2012 with more than 1200+ nominees from 220+ different countries.

Phase 2

1200+

Nominees

300+

Cities

More than 300 cities qualify for this phase up to 7 October, 2013 (one per country plus the top 77 voted).

Phase 3

77

Top Voted

28

Finalists

From the top 77 voted during the qualification phase the New7Wonders Cities Panel of Experts advises on the selection of the 28 Official Finalist Candidates.

Phase 4

77

Top Voted

28

Finalists

Voting for the New7Wonders Cities Finalists continued across three phases: 28-21 phase (21 Oct 2013 - 7 July 2014), 21-14 phase (7 July 2014 - 7 Oct 2014) & 14-7 phase (7 Oct 2014 - 7 Dec 2014)

Phase 5

28

Finalists

7

Wonder Cities

The Official New7Wonders Cities, chosen by hundreds of millions of votes from around the world, were announced on 7 December, 2014

#7WondersDay
celebration on 07.07.

This year, and every year from now on, the world celebrates 7 Wonders Day. The event honours the 21 iconic wonders chosen by hundreds of millions of votes following three historic global campaigns.

Latest News

New7Wonders continues, find out how in our News Room

The New 7 Wonders of the World celebrate 15 years

The New 7 Wonders of the World celebrate their 15th anniversary on 7 July 2022, as this is the date when the Wonders were announced at the official declaration ceremony that took place in Lisbon, Portugal in 2007. On a historic night on an equally historic date, 7/7/7 – the 7th of July 2007 – … Continued

New7Wonders virtual reality laboratory visit for The Global Memory project

New7Wonders President and Founder, Bernard Weber, and Director, Jean-Paul de la Fuente, visited the N7W virtual reality laboratory in Düsseldorf, Germany, to see and experience the latest developments for The Global Memory project. Along with partners from Digital Architektur and MIREVI University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, in-depth testing and briefings took place as the virtual … Continued

New7Wonders courtesy visit to the Association of South East Asian Nations

During the courtesy visit of New7Wonders Director, Jean-Paul de la Fuente, to ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, New7Wonders and ASEAN met to explore areas of common interest. The visit included a tour of the historic records and cultural artefacts in the official exhibition representing all the 10 member nations of ASEAN. The visit was graciously … Continued

Discussions with Indonesian travel industry leaders

Indonesia and New7Wonders have a historic relationship over more than 12 years. This was reactivated during a series of meetings in Jakarta with leading representatives of the Indonesian travel industry. The New7Wonders Director Jean-Paul de la Fuente met with the Indonesian chapter of the Pacific Asian Tourism Association (PATA), specifically its President CEO Bapak Purnomo … Continued

Computer reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha

When political or religious ideologies drive people to direct their aggression towards heritage sites, structures of global importance can be wiped off the face of the earth. By using computer reconstruction to record the details that make these places unique, blueprints can be created to facilitate the potential rebuilding of these sites, should they ever … Continued

Wonderful Content loading...

Hello! Contact New 7 Wonders Close

Do you have any questions about the New7Wonders campaigns?
Are you writing an article, do you have a project in mind?
Maybe you have an idea using the New7Wonders concept?
Whatever it is, just say "Hello!" to us, and we will reply as soon as we can.

If you are from the press or a media organisation, or a social media reporter, please use this form to contact our Communications Department.

If you have an idea involving the New7Wonders concept, or maybe you want to associate New7Wonders with your product or brand, or any other commercial or business or new creative idea, please use this form to contact Jean-Paul de la Fuente, New7Wonders Head of Value Development.>