Quote:
Originally Posted by Lear
Berlin is earning several billions every year through tourism. Why ?
It produces/provides a vast array of cultural attractions people want see and pay for.
The city has become the third most visited city in Europe.
BTW, NYC never had the Olympics and is neither a relevant location for football competition.
Recognizing this perspective, the city has never been a "cultural" metropolis during its whole existence....
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Many great cities haven't hosted the Olympics. The IOC has a serious bias towards Europe, and is thus at a greater advantage when it comes to bids. Which is why only Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Atlanta have hosted them over 118 years of the modern Olympics, despite America's substantial rise in power over that period of time. The Olympics are not the be all end all of what cities are important and which aren't.
If you think Berlin is seriously ahead of New York City in culture, economy, or general importance, then you must think the same of Atlanta or St. Louis, which would be ridiculous. That's not to say Berlin, St. Louis, or Atlanta aren't great cities, but New York is clearly on a different level, with only London, Paris, and Tokyo as its peers.
Football (soccer) isn't a big deal in North America and I'm sure you're aware of that. You're cherrypicking. On the other hand, I don't recall Berlin hosting an NFL or NHL or NBA game.
With all that said, Berlin is a city that fascinates me greatly. It seems to have a very bright future as an innovative centre of Western culture. It feels more dynamic than the more preserved cities like Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Rome.
I too would be curious, for such a creative city, what are some of Berlin's best right now? I know electronic music is huge there, but is there much in indie rock or hip-hop or anything? Berlin seems to have a similar youthful creative culture not unlike East London or Brooklyn or Portland or Montreal, so there must be quite a lot of quality music coming out of that city, I'm just not hearing much of it. What about television? Surely such a creative city should be able to pull of something as acclaimed as the Sopranos or Breaking Bad. Visual arts? Cinema? Literature?