Itchan Kala

• Management activities
• Restoration works conducted using non-traditional building material (issue resolved)

Total amount granted: 2019: USD 43,115 UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust project for Building capacity in managing World Heritage properties, interconnection of development and heritage preservation in Uzbekistan

On 29 April 2020, the World Heritage Centre requested a report from the State Party in order to obtain information on the progress achieved in addressing the recommendations of the 2018 ICOMOS Advisory mission, in light of emerging conservation issues at the property. On 29 June 2020, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, followed by an update report on 9 January 2021; the executive summaries of these reports and the ICOMOS Advisory mission report are available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/543/documents. In February 2021, details of the proposed Mevaston hotel complex in Dishan Kala were also submitted for review.

The ICOMOS Advisory mission was requested by the State Party following an ICOMOS Technical Review of a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) undertaken for a large-scale project within Dishan Kala, the outer city of Khiva and part of the property’s proposed buffer zone, in which houses in two mahallas had been demolished. The Project of Detailed Planning of Historical Centre of Khiva (PDP) had been developed as part of the Master Plan of Khiva City for the period up to 2030, following the decree ‘On the Program for Complex Development of Touristic Potential of the Khiva City and Khorezm Region for 2017-2021’.

The Technical Review recommended that demolitions and major interventions in the proposed buffer zone be halted along with the tourism programme until adequate protection and management were in place. The Advisory mission was then invited to provide inputs on the town‐planning reconstruction project in the proposed buffer zone. The main recommendation was to halt further implementation of the PDP and revise it as a matter of urgency in order to:

• Preserve existing residential houses and public buildings alongside alleys, the historical road network and the historic marketplace;
• Restore the historical irregular urban morphology on the territories of demolished residential quarters;
• Reduce to a minimum the number of new two-storey buildings in the PDP.

The State Party’s reports indicate that progress was made in addressing these recommendations as follows:

• The PDP is being revised in accordance with the recommendations of the ICOMOS Advisory mission and in line with the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). It is due for completion by the end of the 2021 and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review. Meanwhile, two large urban areas of mahallas where houses were demolished remain unbuilt;
• A Tourism Destination Management Plan for tourism in Khiva has been developed;
• The draft Management Plan has been prepared and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review shortly, and a new Itchan Kala World Heritage Management Unit is being created;
• Tourism development will be limited in Itchan Kala and focused on Dishan Kala.

The State Party also reports that:

• Several traditional houses in Itchan Kala have collapsed due to severe termite infestation or have been demolished due to safety concerns and replaced with new buildings for residential or tourism purposes;
• The lack of proper planning and regulatory tools to protect and control the evolution of the historic urban fabric hampers the sustained efforts of the Khorezm Regional Department of Cultural Heritage (KRDCH) in managing the historic city;
• A new train station has been constructed outside Dishan Kala to serve the high-speed rail link with Bukhara and Samarkand, together with a very broad promenade that links it to the property.

On the positive side, it is reported that:

• A great number of ancient khivan houses have been rehabilitated using traditional materials and techniques;
• The Amir Tura Madrasah and the Hassan Murad Kushbegi Mosque have been restored with support from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, and the former now houses a seasonal school for restorers;
• The dormitories of the Madrassah Muhammad Rahim Khan II have been converted into tourist accommodation.

The State Party also mentions several issues relating to conservation, in particular the need for water and sanitation networks within the property, in order to improve public health and conditions of cultural heritage.

ICOMOS carried out a technical review of the proposed Mevaston Hotel to be built on part of one of the demolished mahallas in Dishan Kala. The recommendations were transmitted to the State Party on 20 April 2021. 

The halting of demolition and any further development in Dishan Kala (the proposed buffer zone) and the revision of PDP in accordance with the recommendations of the Advisory mission and the HUL approach are welcome, as is the creation of a new World Heritage Management Unit. Legal frameworks have also been strengthened since 2018 as a result of a national initiative, and a national Cultural Heritage Committee was established under the Cabinet of Ministers. As the State Party is establishing an ‘International Advisory Committee’ (IAC) for cultural World Heritage properties in Uzbekistan, coordination is required to ensure proper follow-up of Committee decisions and mission recommendations.

The revised PDP will now be subject to an independent HIA and both will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review. Given the scope and scale of this project, sufficient time will be needed to allow for discussions with the State Party following their submission. How the PDP links to the Khiva Master Plan will also need to be clearly defined.

As noted by the mission, the PDP and the Khiva Master Plan are being developed in response to considerable development pressures impacting on the city, including from rapid urban development supported by significant investments and from increased tourism resulting from the new rail link. The new Tourism Destination Management Plan is aimed at guiding investments across the city, and it is noted that these will be focused on Dishan Kala rather than Itchan Kala in order to avoid displacing residents living in the property. How this Plan relates to the PDP and the Master Plan is unclear.

The weak management system prevailing in 2018 and the lack of adequate conservation and management programmes meant that the city was not robust enough to withstand these pressures. Demolition and re-building are also beginning to be seen in parts of Itchan Kala. The State Party acknowledges that the KRDCH has inadequate planning and regulatory tools to allow it to properly manage the historic city. It also acknowledges that capacity building for decision makers, conservation professionals and developers is greatly needed in Khiva, especially in the fields of brick building conservation, reuse of historic monuments, and planning for regeneration. The State Party further acknowledges that tangible and intangible cultural heritage need to be better understood to achieve inclusive and holistic urban regeneration processes.

The proposed creation of an Itchan Kala World Heritage Management Unit is to be welcomed as is the development of a draft Management Plan.

Although the property’s management and protection are now being improved, a further element that needs to be strengthened is the status of non-monumental urban fabric and the way it is understood, documented, and valued, both in the property and in Dishan Kala, its proposed buffer zone. Dishan Kala is inextricably linked with Itchan Kala, since it was the traditional residential area for the fortified city. The historical urban landscape of Dishan Kala needs to be valued as the historical setting of Itchan Kala; the overall urban grain as well as individual buildings should be sustained. The recent demolition of large areas of Dishan Kala that has erased their urban structure is to be regretted, and care must be taken to ensure that tourism requirements do not compromise the urban form. It is recommended that the State Party be urged to submit the buffer zone for review by the Advisory Bodies and subsequent approval by the Committee, in line with Decision 40 COM 8B.42.

The traditional urban architecture of Khiva is distinctive and highly elaborate in places, as detailed in the draft Management Plan; its coherence and harmonious complexity were noted in the ICOMOS evaluation. At the time of inscription in 1990, 250 traditional houses in Itchan Kala were mentioned, and it was stated that work had started on the restoration and regeneration of ancient residential neighbourhoods. Such an approach is needed now to underpin the revised PDP. It will be essential that its approaches are based on a thorough analysis of both the urban form and traditional houses. The State Party’s report mentions a 2015 study that produced a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of all buildings and structures of Itchan Kala based on background information, plot-by-plot surveys, and interviews. The cost of preventive conservation and restoring houses built of traditional materials is clearly a key issue, as the recent demolition of some in Itchan Kala has shown. Their conservation and use needs also to be addressed in the development of the policy tools, the Master Plan and the emerging Management Plan.

The property and its setting continue to be extremely vulnerable. The emerging Master Plan and PDP will define how Itchan Kala and its setting develop over the next few decades, which represents both an opportunity and a major challenge. It is recommended that the State Party consider how dialogue with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies might be incorporated into the planning processes to hold discussions before the final draft plans are submitted for review, in order to ensure that the attributes of OUV are sustained. Outlines of the Master Plan and the PDP should be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for preliminary comments by the Advisory Bodies, and a phased dialogue to inform the further elaboration of these policy tools should be maintained.

Meanwhile, until the Master Plan and the PDP have been reviewed and approved by the Advisory Bodies, the moratorium on development should remain in place. The conservation issues are also having impacts on public health, and the condition of cultural heritage needs to be addressed so as to enable decent infrastructure for local residents without jeopardizing the authenticity of structures above and beneath the ground.

Finally, it is unfortunate that proposals for the Mevaston Hotel have moved forward prior to the approval of these plans. Although this project can be considered acceptable with some amendments, it cannot be seen as a model for other similar development on areas of demolished mahallas.