Unesco adds 29 heritage sites

These include the Walled City of Jaipur, India, and eight major works designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright

The Guggenheim Museum designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright is one of eight Wright properties named a world heritage site. The historical Hawa Mahal palace in Jaipur, India. The Walled City of Jaipur, also known as the Pink City, has been added to
The historical Hawa Mahal palace in Jaipur, India. The Walled City of Jaipur, also known as the Pink City, has been added to the Unesco World Heritage Site list. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
The Guggenheim Museum designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright is one of eight Wright properties named a world heritage site. The historical Hawa Mahal palace in Jaipur, India. The Walled City of Jaipur, also known as the Pink City, has been added to
The Guggenheim Museum designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright is one of eight Wright properties named a world heritage site. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NEW YORK • From iron works in Burkina Faso that date back nearly three millennia, to the fortified and planned city of Jaipur in India, to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Unesco has added a broad array of cultural and natural marvels to its World Heritage List.

To be included on the list, a site must meet at least one of 10 criteria, like being a landmark of human history or culture, an ecological wonder or "a masterpiece of human creative genius".

Unesco's World Heritage Committee considered 35 nominations this year and accepted 29 from around the world, some of them composed of multiple sites, covering the full range of categories.

That is "a relatively high but not unusual number", said Dr Mechtild Rossler, the director of the organisation's World Heritage Centre in Paris.

The World Heritage List, which began in 1978, includes more than 1,100 sites nominated by their respective nations, like the Acropolis in Athens and the Great Wall of China, each one of "outstanding universal value", Dr Rossler said. The centre announced the new additions last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

They include landscapes as disparate as the Vatnajokull National Park in Iceland, an otherworldly region of active volcanoes, glaciers and rare geological formations; Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene, a wine-growing area in north-eastern Italy; and Budj Bim in south-western Australia, whose wetlands are one of the world's oldest human aquaculture sites.

In Burkina Faso, the heritage designation names 15 still-standing smelting furnaces, mines and other sites linked to ancient iron production, some dating to eighth century B.C.

Jaipur, famed for its architecture, was founded almost 300 years ago as a planned city, laid out on a grid with wide boulevards, colonnades and public squares.

Eight major works designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright were inscribed on the World Heritage List, including the Guggenheim and the famed Fallingwater house in Mill Run, Pennsylvania - the first recognition on the list of American modern architecture.

The new inclusions in the list were welcomed enthusiastically on social media, particularly by officials in their respective countries, where the designations can bolster tourism as well as local pride.

"Jaipur is a city associated with culture and valour," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter last Saturday. "Elegant and energetic, Jaipur's hospitality draws people from all over."

Mr Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, wrote on Twitter that Hollyhock House, one of the Wright works honoured on the heritage list, was "one of LA's greatest cultural treasures".

"This home will inspire Angelenos for generations to come, and its well-deserved place on @Unesco's #WorldHeritageList is a fitting tribute," he wrote.

Mr Dan Andrews, the premier of the Australian state of Victoria, tweeted that "Budj Bim has become the first site in Australia to receive @Unesco World Heritage protection solely for its Aboriginal cultural importance".

In some cases, a nomination might not go forward, to give a country more time to work on its management plan for the site. That happened this year with the Sunken Pirate City in Jamaica, a 17th-century haven for buccaneers that was submerged by an earthquake.

"The nomination was not ready and we will assist them," Dr Rossler said.

She also said she would like to see more nominations from Africa, which this year produced only one.

"There is an imbalance on the list," Dr Rossler said. "We have a very high number of nominations from countries in Europe and no or few nominations from Africa."

"There is a capacity-building issue in the African continent," she added.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 10, 2019, with the headline Unesco adds 29 heritage sites. Subscribe