Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor

• Management systems/management plan (Need to implement the timetables for developing detailed management plans; Need for strategies for conservation of component sites; Need for visitor management strategies, including interpretation)
• Impacts of tourism/visitor/recreation
• Urban development (Comparative fragility of many sites)
• Ground transport infrastructure (Proposals for a major road and bridge directly across the Talgar component site in Kazakhstan)
• Housing (Residential development in the buffer zone, near the Talgar Citadel in Kazakhstan)

On 1 December 2022, the States Parties of China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan submitted a joint state of conservation report, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1442/documents/. On 6 December 2022 the State Party of Kazakhstan submitted a separate report. An executive summary of this report is available at the above-mentioned link. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in these reports, as follows:

• The ICOMOS International Conservation Centre-Xi'an (IICC-X) is the Secretariat for the property. It fosters exchange between the States Parties, provides technical support, and promotes the property;
• Management Plans for some component sites have progressed, with eight updated in China and proposals to update eight in Kazakhstan. The component sites have cooperated in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a significant reduction in visitation but digital technologies have facilitated online events, such as scientific conferences and virtual tours;
• China has established a comprehensive monitoring system. Local departments actively participate in protection, management, monitoring, promotion, and research. A joint initiative between IICC-X and the International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST), a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, is providing environmental and digital modelling of World Heritage properties in Xi'an;
• Kazakhstan strengthened the legal framework and improved management of cultural heritage. Kyrgyzstan has promoted projects to interpret the component sites as an important part of the Silk Road, conducted public education activities, and applied new monitoring technologies;
• The Birlik-Akbulak highway and bridge will pass 550m north of the Talgar settlement buffer zone. The old bridge is considered to be tourist infrastructure and will be retained for pedestrians. The proposed Eco-Village within the Talgar settlement buffer zone was denied approval. Development issues in the buffer zones of the Ak-Beshim and Krasnaya Rechka settlements remain unresolved;
• The Kazakhstan Committee of Culture and National Committee of Cultural and Natural Heritage contribute to World Heritage preservation, but a wide range of experts will be involved with improved interaction with other government and non-governmental organizations;
• Within China, the component sites have improved management systems which address construction projects, through Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies. Pressure remains from some construction and development projects such as the integrated rural sewage treatment project and construction of a special education school within the buffer zone of the Site of Weiyang Palace in Chang’an City of the Western Han Dynasty.

On 26 September 2022, the State Party of Kazakhstan submitted to the World Heritage Centre an HIA for the Eco Village Talgar project in the buffer zone of the historical and cultural heritage component site of Talgar. An ICOMOS Technical Review on the HIA was transmitted to the State Party on 9 February 2023.

Progress continues with research, interpretation, stakeholder engagement and monitoring of the 33 component sites, which comprise the property. The Secretariat for the property is based at the ICOMOS International Conservation Centre-Xi'an, and provides coordination and support. Although progress is reported in updating and revising management plans for the property, these remain incomplete. It is a major priority that they are finalised or updated and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies. Understandably, recent visitor management has focused on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting reduced visitor numbers. The States Parties should now address the carrying capacities of the component sites, placing sustainability and protection of attributes which support the OUV of the property at the core of visitor management.

Some specific projects and initiatives have not yet been adequately addressed in accordance with previous Committee Decisions. It is welcome that the route of the Birlik-Akbulak highway and bridge have been revised to pass north of the buffer zone of the Talgar settlement, and that the old bridge is to be retained as tourist infrastructure. However, the State Party of Kazakhstan has not yet provided the previously requested detailed plans of these proposals, for the review by the Advisory Bodies before commitments are made or work is undertaken. Development issues within the buffer zones of the Ak-Beshim and Krasnaya Rechka settlements are unresolved, and the State Party of Kyrgyzstan should ensure that attributes which support the OUV of the property are not impacted. It is appropriate to remind the three States Parties of their obligation to submit details of major restoration or new construction projects which may affect the OUV of the property, and HIAs, to the World Heritage Centre for review, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, in advance of any decision which would be difficult to reverse, and to draw attention to the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage Context. The Committee should request that the State Party of China submit documentation of the integrated rural sewage treatment project, as well as the special education school proposed within the buffer zone of the Weiyang Palace in Chang’an City of the Western Han Dynasty.

The decision not to approve the proposed Eco-Village within the buffer zone of the Talgar settlement is welcome, as this development would have distorted the landscape setting of this component of the property. The State Party of Kazakhstan is invited to consider alternative options for an Eco-Village outside the buffer zone. While the reported institutional arrangements for cultural heritage protection are acknowledged, it is regrettable that the State Party of Kazakhstan is yet to establish the previously requested World Heritage Steering Committee. The States Parties concerned should also implement the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape as a tool for integrating heritage management with development plans and processes for the cities and settlements in the property to better protect their attributes.

Conservation and management of this complex serial transnational property would be assisted by definitive documentation of boundaries and buffer zones, as previously encouraged by the Committee. The Committee should request all States Parties to ensure that the boundaries and buffer zones of inscribed component sites are documented in cadastral maps, and that these maps are submitted to the World Heritage Centre.

Initiatives that have been pursued in collaboration with the HIST, in relation to World Heritage properties in Xi’an are commendable and should be extended to monitor the state of conservation of the entirety of the property, in accordance with previous Committee requests.