Pictures of the day: Leaders posing with model cities

Nate Berg posted earlier today an interesting article entitled World Leaders Posing with Model Cities on The Atlantic Cities.
As you know, during his/her term of office, each leader usually aims to plan new urban projects. Officially the goal is to regenerate cities, or at a smaller scale, infrastructures, facilities, to name a few. As this is typical, nothing is new behind this.  The Post-Second War Japan profited from very impactful urban projects to rebuilt itself from war's ruins; the Metabolists are a very interesting example. Put another way, this article just confirms what we knew: how cities, politics, and economics are still intertwined, and will be continuing to be interconnected in the future.
Yet I confess to have been wondering since I was a teenage why leaders use cities to let their mark? Unsurprisingly, cities need a long-term reflection and consultation, to say a few, to be planned for its dwellers. Consequently, I — but countless others too — still don't know why. As the question will be remaining open for a long while, let's jump on Nate Berg's selection of leaders and model cities.
Here are some leaders among the 25 leaders posted on the website that delight presenting his/her urban vision for his/her country.
In this selection of images — more can be seen on The Atlantic Cities — leaders are posing with model cities, from Vladimir Putin to Hugo Chavez, to Nicolas Sarkozy and to Angela Merkel.

'Russian Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin looks over a model of combined cycle gas turbine unit during a visit to the Kirishi state district power plant in the Leningrad Region' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/ Ria Novosti, March 23, 2012

'French President Nicolas Sarkozy looks over a model of proposed construction in Issy-Les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris on February 13, 2012. The sashed mayor of the town is also there, as is the Paris police prefect.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/Eric Feferberg

'In this picture from 2008, then Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and current President Dmitry Medvedev looks at a model of a proposed industrial project in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/Ria Novosti, January 31, 2008

'German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with architect David Libeskind about a model of a new university campus in Hamburg.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/Christian Charisius, October 9, 2008.

'Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah looks at the model a housing development project being built in the city of Rafha.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters, may 8, 2007.

'Then-Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi overlooks a model of the bridge on the Strait of Messina during a TV show taping.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Reuters/Tony Gentile, April 6, 2004.

'Iran's then-Vice President Parviz Davoudi reviews a model of a proposed petrochemical complex at a 2009 oil industry conference in Tehran.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl, April 21, 2009.

'Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minster of the Kurdish Regional Gdministration in Kurdish Iraq, looks at a model of Hyundai Heavy Industries' factory at the company's information centre in Ulsan, South Korea.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak, February 25, 2009.

'Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez points to models of houses during a TV broadcast about a new Socialist city named "Caribia City," located outside Caracas. The city has been slowly rising since 2007.' Nate Berg/The Atlantic Cities.
Photo credit: Reuters, August 27, 2011.

Source: The Atlantic Cities.