Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Centre information.

Administration
Budget
Capacity Building
Communication
Community
Conservation
Credibility of the World Heritage ...
Inscriptions on the World Heritage ...
International Assistance
List of World Heritage in Danger
Operational Guidelines
Outstanding Universal Value
Partnerships
Periodic Reporting
Reinforced Monitoring
Reports
Tentative Lists
Working methods and tools
World Heritage Convention








Decision 36 COM 7B.89
Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey) (C 356)

The World Heritage Committee,

1.   Having examined Document WHC-12/36.COM/7B,

2.   Recalling Decision 34 COM 7B.102 (Brasilia, 2010) and 35 COM 7B.111 (UNESCO, 2011), adopted at its 34th and 35th session respectively,

3.   Notes that an Advisory Expert Committee has been established, as requested by the Committee, but expresses its regret that the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies have not been involved in the work of this Committee until its 8th meeting in April 2012 at UNESCO;

4.   Regrets that, according to the information received, no further mitigation measures to the negative visual impact of the proposed Golden Horn Bridge have so far been proposed beyond those already announced by the State Party and examined by the Committee in 2011, and that, as construction work has progressed, no further structural changes are possible;

5.   Considers that the Bridge, as currently being constructed, will have an overall negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, and urges the State Party to pursue, as a matter of urgency, any further possible work to mitigate the negative visual impact of the proposed Bridge such as through changes to colour and lighting, and to discuss emerging proposals with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies;

6.   Requests the State Party to invite an urgent joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission to assess progress in mitigating the visual impacts of the proposed Golden Horn Bridge, to consider proposed renewal and conservation projects, as well as progress with the overall strategic management of the property, and to assess the overall state of conservation of the property;

7.   Acknowledges the detailed information provided by the State Party on the revision of the Management Plan and on proposed renewal and conservation projects and other conservation initiatives;

8.   Further acknowledges the efforts made by the State Party to address the need for conservation plans, an effective management system, development strategies for traffic and tourism, and a buffer zone;

9.   Also considers that the revised Management Plan is a significant improvement, commends the State Party for its scope in relation to the overall Historic Peninsula, and also requests it to address, at the first annual review of the Management Plan, the recommendations that ICOMOS has provided;

10.  Also commends the proposals to develop a Silhouette Master Plan for the Historic Peninsula that will lead to a definition of the silhouette and appropriate height controls;

11.  Acknowledging the concerns expressed by the World Heritage Committee in previous sessions on renewal projects in various areas of the Historic Peninsula, further considers that the detailed information now provided by the State Party on proposed renewal and conservation projects should be appraised on site;

12.  Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2013, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 37th session in 2013.

Decision Code
36 COM 7B.89
Themes
Conservation
States Parties 1
Year
2012
State of conservation reports
2012 Historic Areas of Istanbul
Documents
WHC-12/36.COM/19
Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th session (Saint-Petersburg, 2012)
Context of Decision
WHC-12/36.COM/7B
top