Decision 41 COM 7A.57

Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz (Uzbekistan) (C 885)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7A.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.48, adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
3. Welcomes the Action Plan submitted by the State Party, which reflects an acknowledgement of the need to transform the protection, management and decision making not only for Shakhrisyabz but also for other World Heritage properties in Uzbekistan;
4. Notes with extreme concern the findings of the 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission concerning the drastic and irreversible damage to the Temurid urban planning and to traditional dwelling houses in the core of the medieval town resulting from works undertaken under the ‘State Programme for complex measures for building and reconstruction of Shakhrisyabz city’;
5. Also notes with extreme concern the relocation of some 2,000 residents and the extensive conservation work at and around a number of cultural heritage monuments, including the Ak-Saray Palace, the Dorus-Saodat Complex, the Chor-su Bazaar and the Medieval Baths, partly carried out using inappropriate materials and irreversible techniques, including some reconstruction, which caused significant damage to the authenticity of the property;
6. Greatly regrets that no information was provided to the World Heritage Centre on this major project before irreversible decisions were taken and work commenced, and understands that, had the project not been halted as requested by the Committee in 2016, the demolition would have been extended to other mahalla districts;
7. Notes that no Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), no detailed systematic documentation, and no rescue archaeology was carried out before the major interventions began;
8. Takes note with concern of the Reactive Monitoring mission’s conclusion that, as the monumental buildings have now been disengaged from their urban surroundings, the heart of the Temurid town planning has been lost and, as the traditional dwelling houses in the core of the medieval town have been destroyed, the key attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) have been damaged to such an extent, and for the most part irreversibly, that the property can no longer convey the OUV for which it was inscribed;
9. Also takes note with concern of the Reactive Monitoring mission’s conclusion that recovering sufficient attributes to justify the OUV identified at the time of inscription seems impossible at this stage, but considers nevertheless that the State Party should explore all possible options for the recovery of attributes and examine whether a significant boundary modification could be envisaged based on any recoverable attributes, in line with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines;
10. Requests therefore that the State Party halt any further work at Shakhrisyabz and provide to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, further details and documentation to allow an assessment of what, if anything, could be recovered, for review by ICOMOS, including:
    1. Detailed plans of the town centre showing the layout and buildings before and after demolition,
    2. Detailed plans of the remaining mahalla areas and descriptions of their characteristics,
    3. Inventories of remaining traditional houses,
    4. Assessment of changes to houses and streets since inscription, including comparisons with the 1983 drawings of selected houses,
    5. Current plans for further improvements and upgrade work on houses and access routes, such as the widening and re-paving of roads,
    6. Documentation on work carried out on the monuments and their settings since inscription,
    7. A current Master Plan for the city;
11. Decides that on the basis of this documentation, a decision will be made at its 42nd session in 2018 on whether there is potential for a re-nomination of the property including only some of the monuments and the remaining urban areas, or whether the property has deteriorated to such an extent that it has lost the attributes of the OUV defined at the time of inscription and should therefore, in accordance with Paragraph 192 of the Operational Guidelines, be deleted from the World Heritage List;
12. Urges the State Party to address all other recommendations of the December 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission, notably regarding protection, management and tile decay on the façade of Ak-Saray Palace;
13. Requests the World Heritage Centre to provide to the Committee at its 42nd session a report concerning the clarification of the processes associated with the Periodic Reporting and Reactive Monitoring system with regard to this property;
14. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2018, 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 42nd session in 2018;
15. Also decides to retain Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz (Uzbekistan) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.