Bandung in Indonesia was once known as “Paris of Java”. I saw a few T-shirts with the proclamation “Paris Van Java”, but other than that there is not much evidence to suggest that this was once a grand city in the resemblance of the French capital.
[Jalan Asia Afrika]
Bandung was once a grand city, but much of its grandeur has been lost over the decades. The local government have added their bit to urban defilement by cutting down many trees lining the streets in order to improve traffic, in the process making the city a hotter place with Jakarta style traffic jams.
Bandung’s claim to fame is that it was the host of the 1955 Asia-Africa conference, which was attended by a who’s who of the developing world, including Soekarno, Ho Ch Minh, Nehru and Nasser among others.
There are numerous Art Deco buildings that can be found around the city, some of which were built around the time of the conference. If Bandung still wanted to be known as “someplace of Java”, then perhaps it could be “Miami of Java”, or “Miama of the east”.
[Savoy Homann Hotel]
OK, so it doesn’t have a beach, which makes naming an inland city after Miami a bit odd. What it does have in common is a wealth of Art Deco buildings. If Bandung restored and brightly painted all the Art Deco buildings in the city it would be a tourist attraction in itself, just as it has become in Miami.
[Bank Pacific]