VII.70 The Monuments of Hue (Vietnam)
The inscription on the World Heritage List encouraged donations and international patronage, in addition to substantial financial allocation by the Vietnamese Government for conservation activities. At present this support contributes to the restoration of the monuments, the treatment of the wood against termites, and to setting up a geographical information data system.
The Secretariat reported that considerable urban and regional development for the area of Hue - Da Nang is being planned and major infrastructural works are being considered with a possible negative impact on the World Heritage site of Hue. The Centre maintains contact with the Institute for Development and Strategy of Hanoi (DSI) and the French Delegation for Territorial and Regional Development (DATAR), as well as wi th the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which are all involved in the development of the metropolitan area of the Hue - Danang region, to ensure that the development plan takes into consideration the conservation of Hue.
To ensure both conservation and development of this living historic city, land use and building regulations need to be urgently re-evaluated and improved, especially with regard to the height and volume of the buildings, the width and development of the streets, as well as the commercial and residential land use in the buffer zones (Zones 2 and 3) surrounding the monument zone (Zone 1).
The Representative of ICOMOS expressed concern over the plan to upgrade the road cutting across the World Heritage protected area of Hue into a highway. The Secretariat stated that the Vietnamese authorities have repeatedly assured UNESCO, through the Hue-UNESCO Working Group on the International Safeguarding Campaign, that the planned highway will not cut through the site, nor have a negative impact on the World Heritage value of Hue. The Secretariat, however, expressed concern over the difficulty in keeping up-to-date on the numerous major infrastructural development projects in Vietnam of importance to the entire region.
The Bureau noted the Secretariat's report and requested UNESCO to support the Vietnamese authorities to re-evaluate the landuse and building regulations concerning the World Heritage protected area and the buffer zones (Zones 2 and 3) as well as to participate in the reflection on the various road construction/upgrading projects currently under consideration. The Bureau also suggested that the Vietnamese Government strengthen its interministerial coordination to ensure that the much-needed infrastructural development projects do not undermine the World Heritage value of the site, and to continue their on-going collaboration with the Governments of France and Japan to reflect on the safeguarding needs of the World Heritage Site of Hue within the context of the regional development scheme.