World Heritage Cities Programme
© UNESCO / Van Oers / Bukchon Hanok Village, Republic of Korea
The World Heritage Cities Programme is one of six thematic programmes formally approved and monitored by the World Heritage Committee.
Urban Notebooks
Urban Notebooks dedicated to the
World Heritage Cities community
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Newsletter February 2021
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October 2020 English French Spanish
September 2020 English French Spanish
July-August 2020 English French Spanish
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May 2020 English French Spanish
World Heritage
City Webinar
on 17 June 2020
International Experts Meeting
Heritage in Urban Contexts: Impacts of Development Projects on World Heritage properties in Cities
2020 World Cities Day
Community-Centred Urban Development: A Paradigm of Inclusive Growth
The World Heritage Cities Programme aims to assist States Parties in the challenges of protecting and managing their urban heritage. The programme is structured along a two-way process, with 1) the development of a theoretical framework for urban heritage conservation, and 2) the provision of technical assistance to States Parties for the implementation of new approaches and schemes.
Concerned by the multitude of World Heritage Cities facing difficulties in reconciling conservation and development, the World Heritage Committee at its 29th session in Durban, South Africa (July 2005) requested the development of a new standard-setting instrument to provide updated guidelines to better integrate urban heritage conservation into strategies of socio-economic development. The World Heritage Committee relegated this task to UNESCO in view of the fact that such challenges were faced by all historic cities, not only those inscribed onto the World Heritage List, to muster the broadest possible support from the international community, and to underline the role of UNESCO as standard-setting organization.
As part of this policy process that lasted 6 years UNESCO set up the Historic Urban Landscape initiative, an international working group comprising ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM (as Advisory Bodies to the 1972 World Heritage Convention) and other partner organizations, including UIA (International Union of Architects ), IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects ), IFHP (International Federation for Housing and Planning), OWHC (Organization of World Heritage Cities), the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, IAIA (International Association of Impact Assessment), the World Bank, UN-Habitat, UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), ISoCaRP (International Society of City and Regional Planners), the J. Paul Getty Foundation and WMF (World Monuments Fund), as well as individual experts from different geo-cultural regions and professional backgrounds.
Expert meetings
From 2006 to 2010, eight international expert workshops were organized in Jerusalem (June 2006), UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (September 2006), Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation (January 2007), Olinda, Brazil (November 2007), Chandigarh, India (December 2007), UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (November 2008), Stone Town, Zanzibar (December 2009) and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (December 2009). The meetings identified new threats and challenges to historic cities preservation that were not present when the last UNESCO Recommendation on this subject, i.e. the 1976 Recommendation concerning the Safeguarding and Contemporary Role of Historic Areas, was adopted and suggested inclusion of concepts that have emerged since 1976, such as those of cultural diversity, intangible heritage and the role and traditions of local communities, among others. Please click here to see the previous activities.
New Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape
On 10 November 2011 UNESCO’s General Conference adopted the new Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape by acclamation, the first such instrument on the historic environment issued by UNESCO in 35 years. The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape will not replace existing doctrines or conservation approaches; rather, it is an additional tool to integrate policies and practices of conservation of the built environment into the wider goals of urban development in respect of the inherited values and traditions of different cultural contexts. This tool, which is a “soft-law” to be implemented by Member States on a voluntary basis.
In order to facilitate implementation, the UNESCO General Conference recommended that Member States take the appropriate steps to:
- adapt this new instrument to their specific contexts;
- disseminate it widely across their national territories;
- facilitate implementation through formulation and adoption of supporting policies; and to
- monitor its impact on the conservation and management of historic cities.
It further recommended that Member States and relevant local authorities identify within their specific contexts the critical steps to implement the Historic Urban Landscape approach, which may include the following:
- To undertake comprehensive surveys and mapping of the city’s natural, cultural and human resources;
- To reach consensus using participatory planning and stakeholder consultations on what values to protect for transmission to future generations and to determine the attributes that carry these values;
- To assess vulnerability of these attributes to socio-economic stresses and impacts of climate change;
- To integrate urban heritage values and their vulnerability status into a wider framework of city development, which shall provide indications of areas of heritage sensitivity that require careful attention to planning, design and implementation of development projects;
- To prioritize actions for conservation and development;
- To establish the appropriate partnerships and local management frameworks for each of the identified projects for conservation and development, as well as to develop mechanisms for the coordination of the various activities between different actors, both public and private.
The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape was adopted on 10 November 2011 at the 36th session of the General Conference. The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, including a glossary of definitions can be found from [here].
Note: The World Heritage Cities Programme is a thematic programme intended to support the conservation and management of similar heritage properties. The list hereunder is for the purposes of the programme and does not affect whatsoever the specific decision by the Committee on the inscription of the properties and their SOUV (whether inscribed as city, urban ensemble, single building, cultural landscape or mixed site). The properties included in the World Heritage Cities Programme are those included on the basis of the following criteria:
- World Heritage properties that are a large/significant/representative part of the city (centre, port, quarter, etc.) as well as those that included almost the entire city or town as their nominated area;
- World Heritage properties that are living functioning settlements in the contemporary context where heritage structures are intertwined with the life of the city. This may include urban ensembles or groups of historic buildings that are set in and around urban open spaces, streets, markets or residential quarters as part of the property;
- Cities that have World Heritage cultural landscapes within them.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of
the City of Nanjing
World Heritage Sites (313)
- 18th-Century Royal Palace at Caserta with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex
- Abbey of St Gall
- Acropolis, Athens
- Aksum
- Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
- Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata
- Ancient City of Aleppo
- Ancient City of Bosra
- Ancient City of Damascus
- Ancient City of Nessebar
- Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora
- Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun
- Anjar
- Antigua Guatemala
- Aranjuez Cultural Landscape
- Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida
- Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá
- Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad
- Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments
- Asmara: A Modernist African City
- Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites
- At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah
- Baalbek
- Bagan
- Bam and its Cultural Landscape
- Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
- Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau
- Bisotun
- Bordeaux, Port of the Moon
- Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), Padua
- Brasilia
- Bryggen
- Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
- Byblos
- Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church
- Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom
- Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots
- Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims
- Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville
- Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande, Modena
- Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores
- Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci
- Church Town of Gammelstad, Luleå
- Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande
- Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent
- City of Bath
- City of Cuzco
- City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg
- City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications
- City of Potosí
- City of Quito
- City of Safranbolu
- City of Valletta
- City of Verona
- City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
- Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Classical Weimar
- Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg
- Colonial City of Santo Domingo
- Complex of Hué Monuments
- Coro and its Port
- Costiera Amalfitana
- Crespi d'Adda
- Defence Line of Amsterdam
- Droogmakerij de Beemster (Beemster Polder)
- Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna
- Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae)
- Episcopal City of Albi
- Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč
- Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta
- Flemish Béguinages
- Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore
- Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications
- Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli
- Gonbad-e Qābus
- Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu
- Hanseatic City of Lübeck
- Hanseatic Town of Visby
- Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town
- Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town
- Himeji-jo
- Historic and Architectural Complex of the Kazan Kremlin
- Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City and Harbour, Curaçao
- Historic Areas of Istanbul
- Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison
- Historic Cairo
- Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn
- Historic Centre of Agadez
- Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge
- Historic Centre of Brugge
- Historic Centre of Bukhara
- Historic Centre of Camagüey
- Historic Centre of Český Krumlov
- Historic Centre of Cordoba
- Historic Centre of Évora
- Historic Centre of Florence
- Historic Centre of Guimarães
- Historic Centre of Kraków
- Historic Centre of Lima
- Historic Centre of Macao
- Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Historic Centre of Morelia
- Historic Centre of Naples
- Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán
- Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar
- Historic Centre of Prague
- Historic Centre of Puebla
- Historic Centre of Riga
- Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
- Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments
- Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia
- Historic Centre of San Gimignano
- Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca
- Historic Centre of Santa Cruz de Mompox
- Historic Centre of São Luís
- Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz
- Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace
- Historic Centre of Siena
- Historic Centre of Sighişoara
- Historic Centre of Telč
- Historic Centre of the City of Pienza
- Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
- Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina
- Historic Centre of the Town of Goiás
- Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda
- Historic Centre of Urbino
- Historic Centre of Vienna
- Historic Centre of Warsaw
- Historic Centre of Zacatecas
- Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra
- Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar
- Historic City of Ahmadabad
- Historic City of Ayutthaya
- Historic City of Meknes
- Historic City of Sucre
- Historic City of Toledo
- Historic City of Trogir
- Historic City of Vigan
- Historic City of Yazd
- Historic District of Old Québec
- Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
- Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
- Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
- Historic Inner City of Paramaribo
- Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah
- Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
- Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
- Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings
- Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro
- Historic Monuments Zone of Tlacotalpan
- Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat
- Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento
- Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso
- Historic Site of Lyon
- Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity
- Historic Town of Grand-Bassam
- Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines
- Historic Town of Ouro Preto
- Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda
- Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns
- Historic Town of Zabid
- Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
- Historic Walled Town of Cuenca
- Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa
- Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl
- Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
- Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
- Hoi An Ancient Town
- Hwaseong Fortress
- Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture
- Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
- Island of Gorée
- Island of Mozambique
- Island of Saint-Louis
- Itchan Kala
- Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century
- Jaipur City, Rajasthan
- Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč
- Jongmyo Shrine
- Kaiping Diaolou and Villages
- Kairouan
- Kasbah of Algiers
- Kathmandu Valley
- Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
- Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
- Kulangsu, a Historic International Settlement
- Kunya-Urgench
- Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec
- Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
- L'viv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre
- La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning
- La Grand-Place, Brussels
- Lamu Old Town
- Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto (South-Eastern Sicily)
- Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret
- Levoča, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments
- Levuka Historical Port Town
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City
- Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg
- M'Zab Valley
- Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)
- Mantua and Sabbioneta
- Medieval City of Rhodes
- Medieval Town of Toruń
- Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador)
- Medina of Fez
- Medina of Marrakesh
- Medina of Sousse
- Medina of Tétouan (formerly known as Titawin)
- Medina of Tunis
- Meidan Emam, Esfahan
- Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca
- Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System
- Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon
- Monastic Island of Reichenau
- Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
- Monuments of Oviedo and the Kingdom of the Asturias
- Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin
- Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region
- Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
- Naval Port of Karlskrona
- New Lanark
- Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai
- Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
- Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar
- Old City of Acre
- Old City of Berne
- Old City of Dubrovnik
- Old City of Salamanca
- Old City of Sana'a
- Old City of Zamość
- Old Havana and its Fortification System
- Old Rauma
- Old Town Lunenburg
- Old Town of Ávila with its Extra-Muros Churches
- Old Town of Cáceres
- Old Town of Corfu
- Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications
- Old Town of Ghadamès
- Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof
- Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct
- Old Towns of Djenné
- Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings
- Old Walled City of Shibam
- Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto
- Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church
- Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
- Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona
- Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika
- Pampulha Modern Ensemble
- Paphos
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
- Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in Nancy
- Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex
- Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
- Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida)
- Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
- Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco
- Provins, Town of Medieval Fairs
- Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis
- Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun
- Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage
- Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza
- Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea
- Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier
- Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of Orange
- Roman Walls of Lugo
- Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens
- Røros Mining Town and the Circumference
- Sacred City of Kandy
- Saltaire
- Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures
- San Cristóbal de La Laguna
- San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano
- Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)
- São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristóvão
- Skogskyrkogården
- Soltaniyeh
- Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus
- St Mary's Cathedral and St Michael's Church at Hildesheim
- Stone Town of Zanzibar
- Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt
- Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
- Susa
- Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica
- Taos Pueblo
- The Trulli of Alberobello
- The Historic Centre (Chorá) with the Monastery of Saint-John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse on the Island of Pátmos
- Timbuktu
- Tipasa
- Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture
- Tiya
- Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of Bremen
- Town of Bamberg
- Town of Luang Prabang
- Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios
- Tyre
- University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá de Henares
- Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos
- Vatican City
- Venice and its Lagoon
- Vilnius Historic Centre
- Vlkolínec
- Völklingen Ironworks
- Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower
- Water Management System of Augsburg
- White City of Tel-Aviv – the Modern Movement
- White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal
- Works of Antoni Gaudí
- Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square
News (20)
- UNESCO and the Urban Economy Forum 2020 04-Nov-2020
- Online meeting : Strategic Urban Development Action Plan of the Union for the Mediterranean 03-Nov-2020
- World Cities Day 2020, 31 October 29-Oct-2020
- 'Toward a Better Urban Future': UIA Webinar, World Architecture Day 2020 27-Oct-2020
- Videos: Site managers report on Covid-19 26-Oct-2020
Events (19)
- Community-centred urban development: A paradigm of inclusive growth 30-Oct-2020-30-Oct-2020
- World Heritage City Webinar 17 June: Re-thinking Urban Heritage for Recovery and Resilience 17-Jun-2020
- International Experts Meeting - Heritage in Urban Contexts: Impacts of Development Projects on World Heritage properties in Cities 14-Jan-2020-17-Jan-2020
- Modern Cities Forum 12-Sep-2019-13-Sep-2019
- Presentation of the Global Report on Culture and Sustainable Urban Development 26-Oct-2016