Decision 46 COM 7A.1

Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria) (C 1033)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/24/46.COM/7A.Add.3,
2. Recalling Decisions 37 COM 7B.71, 39 COM 7B.94, 40 COM 7B.49, 41 COM 7B.42, 42 COM 7A.5, 43 COM 7A.45, 44 COM 7A.32 and 45 COM 7A.55 adopted at its 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013), 39th (Bonn, 2015), 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017), 42nd (Manama, 2018), 43rd (Baku, 2019), extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions respectively,
3. Commends the State Party on the progress made in implementing the adopted corrective measures required to achieve the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) and previous decisions of the Committee, including the amendment of the Viennese Building Code, the extension of the roof cadastre to include historic metal structures, and the forthcoming amendment of the Federal Monuments Protection Act;
4. Notes the findings and recommendations of the 2024 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Advisory mission and requests the State Party to consider the recommendations as an essential working tool to ensure further improvement of the new management system and to guide the future revision of the management plan accepted by the World Heritage Committee at its extended 45th session (Riyadh, 2023);
5. Also notes that the efficacy of the Management Plan has to be demonstrated in practice through regular monitoring, reiterates its previous advice that the revisions to the Management Plan should address issues raised in the 2022 ICOMOS Technical Review, and further notes that other management issues that remain to be addressed include strengthening the role of the site managers, establishing and reporting on a monitoring and evaluation programme, and improving the definition of the attributes that convey the OUV of the property;
6. Acknowledges the submission of the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for projects in the Schwarzenberg Garden and also encourages the State Party to implement both the mitigation measures contained in the HIA and the recommendations of the relevant ICOMOS Technical Review, including not proceeding with the current design for the construction of a new hotel wing associated with the reuse of the Schwarzenberg Palace, but to further develop alternatives and to submit further details of the design for this project and for the rehabilitation of the Schwarzenberg Garden, as well as documentation on the Schwarzenberg Palace renovation project, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
7. Appreciates the continued efforts of the State Party and other actors to further revise the design plans for the Heumarkt Neu project, including the submission of a fourth revision of the original design by further reducing the negative impacts of the proposal on the OUV of the property and the attributes that convey it;
8. Considers the further revised design proposal for refinement of the Heumarkt Neu development should be informed by the four options proposed by the 2024 Advisory mission, in order to achieve the relevant DSOCR element, and urges the State Party to submit detailed plans and designs on the basis of HIA to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
9. Regrets that at an architectural competition for a new underground visitors centre for the Upper Belvedere Palace was awarded without the project being notified to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines or an impact assessment being undertaken in accordance with paragraphs 110 and 118bis, and requests the State Party to submit documentation on this project, including an HIA following the methodology of the 2022 Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies before any decisions are taken on its implementation that may be difficult to reverse;
10. Also regrets that the project for the extension of the metro system with new stations in the property was not communicated to the World Heritage Centre in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and further requests the State Party to provide the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies with details of the project, its current status and any impact assessments on the OUV of the property, in accordance with paragraphs 110 and 118bis of the Operational Guidelines;
11. Notes furthermore that a number of the adopted corrective measures remain to be implemented and therefore encourages furthermore the State Party to continue their implementation in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies, with a view to achieving the DSOCR;
12. Requests that a Reactive Monitoring mission takes place soon after the submission of the detailed plans and designs of the Heumarkt Neu project in its version of April 2024;
13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2025, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and on the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session;
14. Decides to retain the Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.