The Mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu (in picture, right), considers including the capital city’s historic center, the Lipscani area, in the UNESCO heritage, following the city of Bern’s example.

During his official visit to Switzerland, Oprescu asked his counterpart in Bern, Alexander Tschäppät (in picture, left), to explain how the city hall got involved in preserving the cultural and historical heritage. According to Alexander Tschäppät, after including Bern’s old center in the UNESCO heritage, the building owners in the area became more responsible.

“Such an approach deserves to be considered for Bucharest. In this period, maybe more than ever, is the time for collaboration between cities and for finding common solutions to common problems, knowing that sometimes bridges between communities can be connected more quickly and can be more durable than those between governments,” said Sorin Oprescu.

The Bucharest mayor also want to benefit from the city of Bern’s experience on household waste incineration.

Sorin Oprescu invited Alexander Tschäppät on an official visit to Bucharest for attending, along with other mayors of European capitals, to the Europa League Final to be held on the National Arena, on May 9, 2012.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sorin Oprescu's facebook page)