Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera

• need to revise the boundaries
• inventory of buildings and monitoring of slow changes
• management coordination

N/A

On 29 November 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1635/documents/. Progress on a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at the time of inscription is presented in this report, as follows:

• The State Party informs that due to the large number of buildings included in the property, the inventory of built heritage will take several years to complete. Of the 900 buildings dating from 1860 to 1975, 583 entries have been completed;
• Since 2021, 19 buildings have been identified as “construction remarquable” (notable construction) in the Local Urban Plan;
• Regarding the documentation of the interior of the buildings, of the 900 buildings studied so far, 174 present well-conserved interior decorations and features;
• State of conservation reports will be published every two to five years based on the frequency assigned to the monitoring indicators identified. Additionally, the list of requests for building permits within the property and the buffer zone is assessed on a weekly basis in order to detect any proposals that could have a negative impact;
• The Local World Heritage Commission, which brings together representatives from different institutions, was legally established in October 2022;
• A mid-term review of the management plan to assess its effectiveness is expected to take place in 2025.

The State Party has made substantial progress towards implementing most of the recommendations made by the World Heritage Committee. The detailed inventory of the approximately 5,000 buildings included within the property will only be achieved in the medium-term as this work involves bibliographical and archival research as well as an assessment of their current state of conservation. The report includes examples of the detailed entries used for each building and a map summarizing progress made for the different neighbourhoods of the city. Likewise, the documentation and protection of the interior of the buildings is a long-term objective as it requires the listing of the buildings on an individual basis. Between 2020 and 2022, eight buildings were listed as ‘historic monuments’ for the significance of their interiors.

Regarding the monitoring programme, no substantial new information is included in the report submitted by the State Party, apart from the indication that reports on the assessment of the state of conservation of the property will be published every two to five years, and that applications for building permits will also be monitored to identify projects that could have negative impacts.

The list of indicators included in the report is the same as those included in the nomination dossier. However, ICOMOS evaluation noted that some types of attributes needed to be more closely monitored than others to detect changes over time. Therefore, it is still considered that the monitoring programme could be improved, and the indicators refined, based on a clear understanding of the attributes of the property. The publication of state of conservation reports at regular intervals, as intended by the State Party, offers an opportunity to assess change over time against a well-defined baseline and to identify necessary management responses.

The legal recognition of the Local World Heritage Commission by Prefectural Decree on 5 August 2022, confirming its role and responsibilities in the management of the property and buffer zone, is welcomed. Since this Commission brings together representatives of different institutions, it can act as an important platform for collaboration.

A revised map indicating the boundaries of the property has been submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by ICOMOS. A response has been provided regarding the adequateness of the delimitation of the property.