Decision 40 COM 7B.49

Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria) (C 1033)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.94, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Also recalling the concerns expressed by the 2012 mission regarding the critical level of urban development reached since inscription and its cumulative impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and the need for new tools to orient the development process towards sustainable development that protects the attributes of the OUV,
4. Noting the information provided by the State Party about the stage of implementation of the proposed Vienna Ice-Skating Club – Intercontinental Hotel – Vienna Konzerthaus project,
5. Expresses its concern that the High-Rise Concept abolishes exclusion zones for high-rises in the Vienna urban areas, without having applied appropriate instruments of control for height, volume and urban density, which respect the OUV of the property; and that the Glacis Master Plan permits the construction of buildings of a scale that would have an adverse impact on the urban form and character of the Glacis area;
6. Notes the recommendations of the 2015 mission to the property and requests the State Party to implement its recommendations and in particular aligning the use of the existing tools with the protection of the property’s OUV, including authenticity and integrity, as laid out in the Management Plan and associated legal instruments such as local Decrees on protected urban areas (ensembles, buffer zone etc.) and guidelines on urban development;
7. Also requests the State Party to facilitate the preparation of revised planning rules and guidelines which:
   1. Establish parameters for the urban density as well as specific standards for building height and volume for the property and buffer zone,
   2. Safeguard the urban morphology that is an essential attribute of the property,
   3. Encourage sustainable development in the property and its buffer zone in harmony with its OUV,
   4. Require that all high-rise projects are evaluated through a comprehensive Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), prepared in accordance with the ICOMOS 2011 Guidance on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage properties, including reference to 3D visual simulations, so that the effects of the proposed development on the OUV of the property can be properly considered;
8. Urges the State Party to halt any further approvals for high-rise projects, pending the preparation of the revised planning rules, and submit the proposed designs and related HIAs for any future high-rise projects to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
9. While noting the State Party’s decision not to pursue the land use planning procedures for the proposed Vienna Ice-Skating Club – Intercontinental Hotel – Vienna Konzerthaus project, nevertheless expresses its concern that the proposed project remains inconsistent with the recommendations of the 2012 mission and would adversely affect the OUV of the property, if implemented in its current form, and also urges the State Party to facilitate a major revision of this project design to:
   1. Reduce the height of the proposed building to comply with the recommendations of the 2012 mission report,
   2. Take into account scale and massing in relation to the characteristics of the location and the OUV of the property,
   3. Harmonize the project design with the attributes of the specific location, which is an integral part of the property,
   4. Reduce the visual impact of the proposed building on both the close urban context and views of the Historic Centre of Vienna;
10. Further requests the State Party to submit the revised design to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any decisions are made regarding its implementation, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2017, an updated report 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, with a view to considering, in the case of confirmation of the ascertained or potential danger to Outstanding Universal Value, the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.