Mini-city makes me mighty happy

While the rest of us were gorging on holiday food and counting down a giant peach’s annual plunge, officials from the Atlanta Development Authority were in Europe, conjuring some business opportunities for the city. They returned with probably the coolest business possibility they could have imagined — a miniature city. I’m not being sarcastic, I love these things! From the ADA’s release about a similar Dutch-themed project the members saw, Madurodam.

Madurodam is a miniature city – built on a 1:25 scale – composed of replicas of Dutch landmarks made with the same building materials (brick, glass, steel) used in life-sized construction. Windmills turn, tour boats float down canals, fire fighters extinguish a fire in the harbor and a modern train moves through the city’s railway. The city has a population of 66,000, served by an actual mayor and city council of Dutch youth. About 5,236 tiny trees and 3,150 street lamps surround Madurodam’s 338 buildings. Structures such as the ING bank office complex took longer than four years to construct.

What say you, dear reader? What features of our fair region should the model-makers set out to depict if this becomes a reality?