L'viv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre

New constructions within the historic centre; lack of valid detailed planning documents; inadequate infrastructure including the sewage system.

According to the state of conservation report submitted by the State Party on 3 March 2005, the Research and Restoration Institution continues work on the preparation of the architectural master plan.  The report also outlines a number of legal and administrative measures taken to provide guidelines for heritage conservation in the city of L'viv.  All activities relating to the restoration, reconstruction and regeneration of the historic buildings and new constructions within the historic areas of the city must be approved by the Historic Environment Preservation Department of the L'viv City Council, the State Service for Cultural Heritage Preservation, and by the Ministry of Culture. 

The report also mentions that the City of L'viv was represented during the regional conferences relating to World Heritage (29-30 April 2005 in Balbrok, Poland and 21-23 September 2005 in Budapest, Hungary) and presented a number of conservation issues facing the City of L'viv.

Following the ICOMOS/UNESCO (represented by the German World Heritage Foundation) mission to the property from 23 to 30 January 2004, the State Party also provided reports (3 March and 5 April 2005) with detailed updated information on the specific construction and reconstruction projects within the World Heritage property.  This included Soz-Bank Mitskevich Square 4, Valova Street 15, Korolenko Street, Shevs'ka Street 6 and 12, as well as Halytskaj Street 10.

Research work on cultural heritage in L´viv is continuing and legal and administrative actions have been undertaken to create more favourable conditions for heritage preservation.  The measures adopted at State and City Council level can improve the control of related formal procedures and establish more clearly the responsibility for decision-making.  Despite such actions, the document reports that discrepancies between procedural requirements and daily practice occur.

Apart from the law enforcement issues, documents to justify decisions taken relating to the volumetric and functional aspects of land-use are required, and the time issue is crucial.  As long as professional preparation and justification for guidelines remain pending, room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation of conditions related to development projects with the protected area will persist.  An evaluation of the human and financial resources available is necessary in order to set a realistic time-frame for the actions being undertaken.  In January 2004, the joint ICOMOS/UNESCO mission saw the need for very detailed analysis of part of the area of the World Heritage property.  More general planning guidelines specifying the street lines, heights of new buildings or extensions to existing buildings, and the areas available for building plots should be considered. 

Despite the statement made in the State Party report concerning requirements of the Order of the State Service for Cultural Heritage Preservation of 22 March 2004, it is not clear whether the city departments responsible for the historic housing stock are required to ask for and respect the opinion of the heritage preservation body in their decision-making.  The exchange of experience with the authorities of other World Heritage cities and properties at the international level could be of great value and should be pursued.

ICOMOS provided detailed comments for the specific projects within the World Heritage property including a new construction at 15 Valova Street and the World Heritage Centre transmitted them to the State Party on 26 April 2005.