Historic Centre of Bukhara

• Recent hotel constructions which would negatively affect the integrity of the property (issue resolved)
• Heavy traffic, pollution and poor sewege system (issue resolved)
• Managements systems/management plan (Lack of a proper conservation and management plan)
• Management activities (Lack of coordination with regard to the conservation and restoration activities carried out as part of the State Programme, Lack of on-going routine maintenance and varying state of conservation of monuments)
• Managements systems/management plan (Lack of guidelines for rehabilitation of housing)
• Buildings and Development (Use of new building material and methods)

A joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property on 24-29 March 2016. On 27 December 2016, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report for the property. Both reports are available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/602/documents. The State Party’s report presents progress on a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions, as follows:

• Management Plan and governance systems: Training workshops have been held over the past three years, in connection with the development of the Management Plan, which was due to be completed at the beginning of 2017;

• Development control and guidance for traditional houses: Illustrated conservation guidelines will be produced on the protection of distinctive architectural features of Bukhara.

A set of recommendations was also formulated during a workshop on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) held in October 2016, in association with the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust. These include the need for stronger legal protection and planning codes for cultural heritage, subsidies for private owners and the restoration and maintenance of traditional irrigation systems and urban vegetation.

It is also reported that between December 2015 and May 2016, more than 100 sites were inventoried by the local specialists and that in 2016, four sites situated in the Historical Centre were restored using national and local funds and 10 sites using sponsorship and charitable donations.

While the early 2017 completion date for the Management Plan for the property is a positive move forward, the completed plan was not submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, as suggested by the March 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission.

Until the plan is reviewed, it will not be possible to ascertain how it addresses the concerns expressed by the mission regarding the overall effectiveness of the management system. The mission suggested further input from ICOMOS on the finalization of the Management Plan, but the State Party has not requested any such input to date.

How the Management Plan will be implemented, what type of governance system has been developed to coordinate inputs from various agencies, and what will be their respective roles in the implementation of the Management Plan remain crucial points to be determined. It is recommended that the Management Plan be completed in conjunction with the new Master Plan for the Historic Centre of Bukhara, and close consultation with the local communities should form the basis for the development of this Management Plan. It is therefore recommended that the Committee request the State Party to submit the completed Management Plan as soon as possible for review by the Advisory Bodies.

The 2016 mission also drew attention to other issues, such as the degradation of traditional houses, the absence of guidelines for the rehabilitation of housing and structural restoration projects, and the use of new materials and techniques as well as the inadequate documentation of major historic buildings and the urban fabric. In order to address these issues, the mission recommended considering measures to enhance institutional capacity, protection and planning tools, financial support for the restoration of traditional houses and documentation, and assessment procedures. The mission reiterated that the establishment of the Bukhara World Heritage Unit (BWHU) and/or Steering Committee with legal authority for the implementation of the Management Plan would be essential to ensure better protection and management of the property. It also recommended that the State Party develop and consolidate a coordinated conservation plan as well as guidelines for the conservation, restoration and rehabilitation the Historic Centre of Bukhara, so as to bring together key conservation activities for the improved protection of the property. It also recommended the enhancement of heritage legislation by establishing bylaws/regulations/guidelines for town planning, the rehabilitation of housing and historical urban areas, the design of new constructions, tourist services, heritage presentation, etc. in order to guarantee the legal protection framework.

Regrettably, neither the 2016 mission report nor its recommendations were mentioned in the State Party’s report. As a result, none of these issues have been addressed specifically in the State Party’s report. Although a few were reflected in the outcomes of the 2016 HUL workshop, it is not clear what status these outcomes have, nor whether there are means to address them.

Overall, the high vulnerability of the property remains a concern, particularly the impact of incremental change in relation to the ensemble of traditional buildings, many of which lack formal protection. There also remains a concern that the recommendations of the 2016 mission were neither acknowledged nor implemented.