The Qatari capital of Doha has been shortlisted as one of 14 finalists in a competition to determine the world’s most seven wondrous cities.
Doha is the only GCC city to be make it this far in a global campaign called New7Wonders, which is asking voters to weigh in before announcing the winners on Dec. 7.
Qatar’s capital is competing against the following 13 finalists:
Barcelona (Spain), Beirut (Lebanon), Chicago (United States), Durban (South Africa), Havana (Cuba), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), La Paz (Bolivia), London (England), Mexico City (Mexico), Perth (Australia), Quito (Ecuador), Reykjavik (Iceland), Vigan (Philippines).
In a recently released statement announcing the finalists, Eamonn Fitzgerald, head of communication at New7Wonders, said:
“The shortlist will now help voters to focus their understanding of a key trend shaping our world today: urbanization. Whether it is innovation or income inequality, or migration or mass transport, some of the most provocative questions of our time are being debated in the context of a changing world in which the majority of humanity lives in cities.”
New7Wonders Foundation
The Swiss-based New7Wonders foundation was formed in 2001 by Swiss-Canadian filmmaker, author and traveler Bernard Weber. The foundation is said to help protect and appreciate both manmade and natural aspects of the earth’s diversity.
To date, the foundation has held three campaigns to draw attention to notable places — the New7Wonders of the World, the New7Wonders of Nature and the latest New7Wonders Cities.
In previous campaigns, a panel of experts selected finalists from a selection countries nominated by the public during the qualification stage. Voters made the final decision.
The current man-made New7Wonders of the world were named in 2007 by more than 100 million voters and the New7Wonders of nature were announced in 2011 by over 500 million votes, according to the foundation.
New7Wonders Cities process
The seven wondrous city campaign launched in 2012, when more than 1,200 cities were nominated by the public from some 220 countries.
Last October, the 1,200 cities were whittled down to 330. A panel of experts then chose 28 official finalists from the 77 countries that received the most votes during the qualification phase.
Since then, Doha has made it past two more cuts, and now is in the running for the final designation as a wondrous city.
Voting can be done online here by selecting your top seven cities. Public comments, photos and demographics are available about each city to help voters make up their minds.
Voting can also be done via a free app that can be downloaded from the iTunes store here or the Android store here. To vote by phone call or SMS, see more information here.
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