Decision of the World Heritage Committee 29 COM 5D

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Annex 2 of Document WHC-05/29.COM/5,

2. Expresses its sincere appreciation to the State Party of Austria, the City of Vienna, the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and ICCROM, and to the partner organizations: Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), International federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), International Union of Architects (IUA) and International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP), for their successful collaboration in the organisation of the international conference on “World Heritage and Contemporary Architecture - Managing the Historic Urban Landscape” (Vienna, 12 -14 May 2005);

3. Takes note of the report and welcomes the Vienna Memorandum adopted at the above-mentioned international conference;

4. Encourages States Parties to integrate the notion of historic urban landscape in nomination proposals and in the laboration of management plans of properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List;

5. Also encourages States Parties to integrate the principles expressed in the Vienna Memorandum into their heritage conservation policies;

6. Requests the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre to take into account the conservation of the historic urban landscape when reviewing any potential impact on the integrity of an existing World Heritage property, and during the nomination evaluation process of new sites;

7. Recommends that the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention at its 15th session (UNESCO, 2005) adopt, on the basis of the Vienna Memorandum, a Declaration on the Conservation of Historic Urban Landscapes;

8. Also recommends that the General Conference of UNESCO adopt a new recommendation to complement and update the existing ones on the subject of conservation of historic urban landscapes, with special reference to the need to link contemporary architecture to the urban historic context.