Decision 43 COM 7B.77

Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures (Uzbekistan) (C 603rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B.Add.2,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.73, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Welcomes the measures taken over the past two years to enhance the legal framework for the protection of all World Heritage properties in Uzbekistan, the human and financial resources for the management of the property, the start of an inventory for the city of Samarkand, and the initiation of a process to develop a new Master Plan and update the Management Plan;
4. Also welcomes the development of a new draft Traffic Scheme within the framework of the proposed Master Plan, which will focus on new roads outside the historic centre and encourage the further pedestrianization of the centre, and notes with satisfaction that it would replace the 2004 traffic plan, which led to a new road being approved to pass through the historic centre, and would prevent the implementation of further new roads in the property;
5. Notes that the new Master Plan being developed by the City authorities, working with Tashkent Research and Design Institute for Urban Planning, other experts and local communities, is seen as a turning point for the city and recommends that the Master Plan and the Management Plan be integrated following the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL);
6. Requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, the infrastructure development and detailed project proposals related to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization International Summit in 2022 once completed, including the multi-functional project ‘Samarkand City Tourist Zone’;
7. Requests the State Party to provide to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies at the earliest:
   1. Details of the proposed development projects mentioned in the state of conservation report or otherwise planned in the next three years, including their precise location, along with details concerning the multi-functional project ‘Samarkand City Tourist Zone’, any necessary Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) following ICOMOS Guidelines,
   2. Reports on the social and other measures taken relating to possible demolition of houses and residential areas,
   3. The Master Plan and updated Management Plan that are integrated following the HUL approach,
   4. Regulations and guidelines for the development, restoration, and adaptive reuse of the historic centre and its buffer zones,
   5. Request for minor boundary modification of the buffer zones, as suggested in the state of conservation report, to enhance the protection of the heritage values,
   6. Clarifications regarding the links between the Master Plan for the city and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation International Summit;
8. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission at the earliest opportunity, with a view to considering:
   1. The full scope of the development projects, including hotel development, refurbishment projects and the ‘Samarkand City Tourist Zone’ project,
   2. Proposed guidelines and other tools and legal instruments for the new development, with a view to protect the OUV of the property,
   3. Proposals for the development of the Master Plan and the updates to the Management Plan in following the HUL approach;
9. Requests the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to consider as a priority, the assessment of the designed proposals and HIAs that will be submitted, to allow the State Party to meet the deadlines for the International Summit they are hosting in 2022;
10. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the progress in the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.