The first big city to get world heritage status is Rio

Committee says: the image is one of a staggeringly beautiful location for one of the world's biggest cities

UNESCO Heritage Committee has elected the city of Rio de Janeiro as the first big city to receive the title of World Heritage Site in the Urban Landscape category.

Said Paulo Senise, Executive Director of Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, "the title comes in a very special moment for Rio de Janeiro, crowning all of the efforts of Rio's tourism industry and raising the city to a position of prominence in the travel and tourism market."

Said the committee, "The development of the city of Rio de Janeiro has been shaped by a creative fusion between nature and culture"

"This interchange is not the result of persistent traditional processes but rather reflects an interchange based on scientific, environmental and design ideas that led to innovative landscape creations on a major scale in the heart of the city during little more than a century."

"These processes have created an urban landscape perceived to be of great beauty by many writers and travelers and one that has shaped the culture of the city. The dramatic landscape of Rio de Janeiro has provided inspiration for many forms of art, literature, poetry, and music. Images of Rio, which show the bay, Sugar Loaf and the statue of Christ the Redeemer have had a high worldwide recognition factor, since the middle of the 19th century.

"Such high recognition factors can be either positive or negative: in the case of Rio, the image that was projected, and still is projected, is one of a staggeringly beautiful location for one of the world's biggest cities.

Valere Tjolle

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