Decision 39 COM 7B.90

Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso (Chile) (C 959rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 38 COM 7B.41, adopted at its 38th session (Doha, 2014),
3. Commends the State Party for its efforts to advance in the drawing up planning mechanisms for the city and for the great number of conservation works, including the elevators, that are being undertaken in a situation where it also had to address the emergency situation caused by the massive fire of April 2014;
4. Requests the State Party to submit:
   1. a timeline for the implementation of the Urban Development Policy and its instruments in the city of Valparaiso,
   2. a comprehensive report on the territorial, local and World Heritage site planning mechanisms and their integration,
   3. an analysis of the effectiveness of the above for the preservation of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and its attributes and the integrated management structures that would be put in place;
5. Notes the response given by the State Party on the Terminal 2 Project, welcomes the actions taken to apply the ICOMOS Guidelines on Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA) for World Heritage cultural properties and Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) recommendations in the impact assessment and also requests the State Party to present the finalized studies, as soon as they become available, together with an analysis of how these studies and the project design respond to the recommendations of the 2013 Advisory mission;
6. Also welcomes the efforts of the State Party to review the Puerto Baron Mall Project, and also commends the progress made to date with modifications to the plans and the further development of the Archaeological Management Plan and, while acknowledging that a full Environmental Impact Assessment cannot be undertaken, highly recommends that the State Party undertake a HIA to define formally any impacts of the project on the OUV of the property, and in particular on the city’s amphitheatre-like layout and the vitality of the sea port upon which Valparaiso’s prosperity was based, for submission when completed to the World Heritage Centre;
7. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in 2017.