Decision 44 COM 7B.67

City of Quito (Ecuador) (C 2)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7B.38, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Welcomes the advances in the preparation of the Partial Plan for the Comprehensive Development of the Historical Centre of Quito, but expresses its regret that to date no formal Management Plan for the property has been approved, and urges the State Party to:
   1. Continue the harmonization process of the Partial Plan and the Territorial Planning and Development Plan for the Metropolitan District of the City of Quito 2019-2023,
   2. Integrate any changes that may occur during this process into the final version of the Partial Plan and submit this plan, together with the final draft of the revision of Ordinance 260, which provides the legal framework for its implementation, to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
4. Also welcomes the strategy for the housing programme for rental in historical buildings, and the Disaster Risk Management Plan for the Core Area of the Historical Centre of Quito, and requests the State Party to consider the recommendations of the ICOMOS technical review;
5. Notes that the construction of the metro station at San Francisco Square and the metro tunnel under the World Heritage property has been concluded, and also urges the State Party to:
   1. Continue monitoring and mitigation programmes,
   2. Develop a programme to assess, once the metro line is in operation, the station’s impact on pedestrian flows and the uses and functions of the square and its surrounding buildings;
6. Congratulates the State Party for its swift and participatory response to the damages caused by civil unrest in 2019;
7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, 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 46th session.