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28COM 15B.55

Decision Text

The World Heritage Committee,
1. Expresses its appreciation to the State Party for the measures taken to enhance
the state of conservation of the property;
2. Takes note of further information provided by the State Party during its 28th
session (2004);
3. Encourages the Chinese authorities to develop an articulated strategic
programme for the conservation and rehabilitation of the historic fabric of
Lhasa based upon an analysis of the heritage value of the historic structures.
This analysis should assist the authorities in ranking the buildings according to
their importance. The information should be made public;
4. Requests the State Party to provide information about all major conservation
and renovation works in Lhasa to the World Heritage Committee;
5. Requests UNESCO and ICOMOS to assist the Chinese authorities in assessing
and updating the comprehensive conservation plan to make the most
appropriate use of the Shöl Area, which forms part of the administrative
section of the Potala Palace, so as to maintain the traditional urban
tissue of the area while changing the use of the traditional buildings;
6. Further encourages the State Party to elaborate design guidelines for the built
heritage environment, including urban design elements, so as to increase the
capacity of local urban planners, architects, and designers to follow the
international conservation norms;
7. Reiterates the request to the State Party to continue making efforts to mitigate
the negative impact on the World Heritage value of this property caused by
development pressure, and, to this end, recommends the following:
a) Institutional requirements: The conservation challenges and potentials in
Lhasa would benefit from a management and development agency to coordinate
activities in Old Lhasa, which could be responsible for the
management of Old Lhasa and the World Heritage properties. It is
recommended that such an agency be established to raise and administer
funds from national and international donors.
b) Conservation, planning and urban development: Taking into
consideration the on-going processes of change and urban development, it
is recommended that a review of the urban development plan is undertaken
to ensure integrated territorial urban conservation challenges of Lhasa. The
conservation plan of 1995-2015 should be made available to the public to
increase their appreciation of the plan. A mechanism to periodically review
the relevance of the conservation plan should be built in the planning
process itself.
c) Protection: In view of the rapid change in the character of Old Lhasa, all
remaining historic traditional buildings in Lhasa should be protected at the
level of the Autonomous Region or at the national level.
d) Conservation and rehabilitation of historic traditional buildings:
Except in exceptional circumstances, demolition should be stopped,
particularly in the Shöl area. Any necessary replacement buildings should
be in keeping with the historic character of the area. The State Party is
requested to inform the World Heritage Committee of its policy on the
conservation of the historic urban fabric of Lhasa.
e) Conservation awareness: It is recommended that the management
authorities set up a programme to encourage community participation and
increase awareness of heritage conservation needs amongst the local
residents.
f) Protective areas and buffer zones: It is recommended that the
management authorities evaluate and redefine the current World Heritage
protective boundaries and management guidelines pertaining to the Potala
Palace, Jokhang Temple (including the Barkor Historic Area) and
Nobulingka, taking into consideration the heritage values of the
surrounding landscape and environment.
g) Tourism: In view of the potential in-come generation opportunities from
the tourism industry for financing conservation work in Lhasa, the heritage
management authorities are encouraged to develop training activities and
provide guidance on sustainable tourism planning at the World Heritage
properties in Lhasa.
h) International outreach: An exchange programme between the World
Heritage site managers in Lhasa and the managers of World Heritage
properties in other countries is encouraged to develop on-site and
international co-operation activities. The Chinese authorities may consider
the organization of a study tour to successfully managed World Heritage
properties focusing on the selected issues identified above.
8. Expresses its readiness to consider an international assistance request to
support national and local efforts to address the above-mentioned
recommendations;
9. Further requests the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS to undertake a
mission to the property as soon as possible, and to present a report on the
progress achieved in the implementation of the above recommendations, for
examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005.

Documents

• Original Decision Document