Philadelphia is home to numerous historically-significant landmarks and world-famous art pieces. This statue of a fictitious movie character is the most popular tourist attraction.
America's birthplace has been named the country's first World Heritage City, putting it on par with Jerusalem, Cairo, Paris and other places recognized for their impacts on the course of human events.
The Organization of World Heritage Cities added Philadelphia in a vote Friday at its biennial conference in Arequipa, Peru.
Philadelphia, the nation's fifth largest city, qualified because Independence Hall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"The universal principles of freedom and democracy set forth in these documents are of fundamental importance to American history and have also had a profound impact on lawmakers around the world," according to UNESCO's website.
Philly has been pursuing this status for a few years now, and will likely be the sole American city on the list for
several more years. The designation cements the legacy of the role Philadelphia has played in the nation's rich history.
With only about 260 designated World Heritage Cities, the status is expected to be a boon for tourism and other business.
Philadelphia has experienced a bit of a modern renaissance, having recently hosted the Pope for the World Meeting of Families, and it will soon host the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
As the nation's fifth largest city, Philadelphia suffers from the same cultural ills that plague most of our large metropolises, with crime, the public schools, and racial disparities being constant issues.
However, the city just elected Jim Kenney as the next Mayor, a Democrat who ran an explicitly Progressive campaign.
Add to that the recent key political victories of Democrats in the state - Tom Wolf being elected Governor last year, and sweeping the three state Supreme Court seats this year - and Philadelphia is poised to capitalize on the surge of enthusiasm, to hopefully enact some ambitious Democratic policy.
Philadelphia is a city rich in vibrant history and culture, but often goes unheralded and overlooked in the rest of the country. Here's hoping the city sees some good outcomes out of this designation, and more importantly, that its impact can touch some of the city's most under-served residents.
8:27 AM PT: From the comments:
UNESCO declares World Heritage Sites. This is an organization of cities which have a World Heritage Site. (OWHC). Philadelphia has one site, Independence Hall and is thus eligible to apply for membership.
Most of the other World Heritage sites in the USA are natural places like the Everglades, Grand Canyon and Yosemite. The only other historic structures are the San Antonio Missions, Montecello/UVa and the Statue of Liberty. I presume the last being technically not in New York would mean that city could not apply. Montecello and the University of Virginia are a combined site. The Antonio Missions site includes the Alamo. I suspect that as they are not wholly in a single city, membership of the OWHC would again have some difficulties.
It should be emphasized that the title of World Heritage City only indicates membership of the group, it is not an official UNESCO designation and requires the city to apply for membership. As an example, the city of Bath in the SW of England is a member, London is not on the list despite having a number of World Heritage sites.