Kasbah of Algiers

• Changes in traditional ways of life and knowledge system
• Erosion and siltation/ deposition
• Natural erosion
• Lack of coordination of actions
• Lack of maintenance of dwelling places
• Land conversion: Change in the land use plan
• Loss of traditional conservation techniques
• Management activities
• Management systems/ management plan: Non-operational safeguarding plan
• Uncontrolled land use

Total amount provided to the property: USD 100,000 for an international experts meeting on the safeguarding of the Kasbah of Algiers (Japanese funds-in-trust)

The State Party submitted a detailed report on the state of conservation of the property on 28 November 2022, a summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/565/documents. The progress made in terms of conservation is presented as follows:

• The National Agency for Safeguarded Sectors (ANSS) has identified 18 buildings in a particularly worrying state of disrepair. The Wilaya of Algiers has taken the necessary emergency measures;
• Launched in June 2020 and then slowed down by the health situation, the process of controlling and monitoring the state of conservation of the property resumed in mid-2022. A joint commission (Wilaya and Ministry of Culture) assessed 1447 of the 2032 properties (71%), and found that 48% were in a very poor state of repair. An operation for securing and consolidation is underway, and the Permanent Plan for the Safeguarding and Valorization of the Safeguarded Sectors (PPSMVSS) is due to be updated to establish regulatory provisions reflecting this situation;
• The work in progress concerns infrastructure, the restoration of numerous properties as well as the maintenance, development and enhancement of the property, undertaken largely as part of cross-sectoral cooperation. Cross-sectoral discussions are also being held on the allocation of 9 monuments, as well as consultations with local residents to help them undertake restoration and socio-economic and cultural revitalization projects;
• Despite a hiatus between December 2020 and March 2022 due to the difficult economic situation, the implementation of the priority action plan has made good progress, with studies and restoration work being carried out on a number of monumental units;
• The structure, recommended by the 2018 "International Experts Meeting for the Kasbah of Algiers, World Heritage Site" and placed under the aegis of the Prime Ministry, is not yet operational, as priority has been given to emergency intervention on buildings at risk and to extend the priority action plan;
• Two events, with a high level of public participation, were organized to initiate and encourage action by private owners and civil society. A number of cultural events were also organized to revitalize and promote the tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

The report shows the ongoing efforts made by the State Party to address the issue of conservation of the property in a comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated manner, but also highlights the fact that additional buildings are reaching critical levels of degradation, and that overall at least 48% of the evaluated urban fabric is in an advanced state of degradation (almost 30% of this fabric has not yet been surveyed), which constitutes an ongoing degradation that continues to give cause for concern.

With regard to the physical conservation of the property, the joint efforts of the Wilaya of Algiers and the Ministry of Culture and the Arts currently underway to carry out operations to secure and protect immovable cultural property, as well as the updating of the study of the permanent plan for the safeguarding and valorization, including regulatory and technical provisions for its effective application, are to be commended.

It should also be noted that the actions taken to date to safeguard the property represent a necessary and "obligatory" response to a deterioration that is proving to be very critical and which, in the long term, could jeopardize the very integrity of the property. However, these actions do not seem to define a planning strategy for resolving the problems of widespread and progressive deterioration of the urban fabric, which is both a consequence and a cause of the impoverishment and marginalization of the economic and social fabric of the Kasbah, and which has been observed for decades. It should be noted in this respect that the report contains no socio-economic data on demographics, social composition, housing conditions or activities, particularly in the traditional trade and craft sectors.

After a slowdown between 2020 and 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a difficult economic situation, activities linked to the safeguarding, conservation, and enhancement of the tangible and intangible heritage of the property have resumed, using an approach based, as recommended, on the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (2011).

All of the operations and activities illustrated in the report show a very positive new heritage dynamism, which suggests a favourable impact not only on the state of conservation of the property but also on its socio-economic vitality, insofar as it is expected to develop cultural and tourist activities.

In particular, the updating of the PPSMVSS and the involvement of civil society in its implementation are welcomed, as is the support offered to private owners for the restoration of dwellings and the socio-economic and cultural revitalization of the urban fabric. The State Party is invited to submit the revised PPSMVSS to the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies for their opinion as soon as the update has been finalised.