Decision 38 COM 7B.41

Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso (Chile) (C 959rev)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.95, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
3. Appreciates the efforts made by the State Party to fund and organize the Advisory mission conducted in November 2013 and encourages it to implement the recommendations contained in the mission report;
4. Takes note of the work undertaken by the national and municipal authorities, and the contributions from sectors of civil society, to elaborate a Management Plan and promote the conservation of the property and encourages the State Party to adopt a broader approach in the formulation of planning tools in relation to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, considering the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach to formulate integrated policies for conservation and development;
5. Also encourages the State Party to review the Management Plan to incorporate provisions for attributes related to the cultural landscape aspects of the city (such as the shoreline, the geographical amphitheatre, the elevators, the Bodegas Bolivar; the docks Espigon and Barón, important buildings in the flat area and the remains of the old railway system);
6. Considering that management arrangements are insufficient, urges the State Party to create a management structure to ensure coordination among the main entities with mandates and the property and enhance decision-making for the property;
7. Requests the State Party to undertake, before commencing works for the planned expansion project in Terminal 2, an Environmental and Heritage Impact Assessment, to identify potential impacts and define mitigation measures to ensure that the OUV of the property is not negatively impacted, and submit these documents to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies by 30 November 2014;
8. Notes with concern that the proposed project of Puerto Barón Mall may affect the OUV of the property and requests the State Party to define in a multisectorial group constituted by all relevant stakeholders, in particular the Site Manager, the Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales (National Monuments Council) and the Ministry of Transports and Telecommunications, alternative architectural designs that take into account the attributes of the property and submit them to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies by 30 November 2014, prior to making commitments to implementation;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2015, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in 2015.