UN Headquarters on Navy Island

[wilcoxchar]

One of the original proposals for the UN headquarters was on Navy Island near Niagara Falls. The proposal was made in 1945 and had some interesting points in it. The headquarters was to encompass the entire island putting it on a national border, and Canada agreed to cede the island to the United Nations while it remained there. Would the location, especially with the UN having sovereign territory, change much? Could the UN being on sovereign territory make it be perceived as more neutral, and thus maybe be more effective?

Also, here is a picture of the proposed site (warning: big image). Looks quite nice IMO.

 

[hairysamarian]

One of the original proposals for the UN headquarters was on Navy Island near Niagara Falls. The proposal was made in 1945 and had some interesting points in it. The headquarters was to encompass the entire island putting it on a national border, and Canada agreed to cede the island to the United Nations while it remained there. Would the location, especially with the UN having sovereign territory, change much? Could the UN being on sovereign territory make it be perceived as more neutral, and thus maybe be more effective?

Also, here is a picture of the proposed site (warning: big image). Looks quite nice IMO.

There is another thread around here somewhere, which I'm having no luck at all finding, about alternate UN locations. Might be some ideas there for you.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I had a tour through the UN building recently. According to them the OTL place was only chose because the Rockefeller family agreed to donate the necessary funds to purchase that land. Wiki seems to confirm that.

Giving the UN sovereign territory won't make much difference in it's effectiveness. There were however a few countries apparrently who thought that the UN shouldn't be situated in the US at all. For those a more neutral place would have much appeal.