Decision 41 COM 7B.99

Historic Centre of Bukhara (Uzbekistan) (C 602bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/17/41.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 39 COM 7B.72, adopted at its 39th session (Bonn, 2015),
3. Notes the conclusions and recommendations of the March 2016 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property;
4. Welcomes progress with the development of the Management Plan and requests the State Party to submit as soon as possible to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, the final text of the Management Plan, completed in conjunction with the new Master Plan for the Historic Centre of Bukhara and in close consultation with the local communities, as suggested by the 2016 mission;
5. Notes with appreciation that a Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) workshop was held in 2016, with the support of the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust;
6. Expresses serious concern that neither the report of the 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission nor any follow-up on its recommendations were mentioned in the State Party’s report; and that no details have been provided to address the concerns raised by the mission regarding the degradation of traditional houses, the lack of guidelines for the rehabilitation of housing and structural restoration projects, the use of new materials and techniques, inadequate documentation of major historic buildings and urban fabric, and the need for stronger protection, planning tools, documentation and a Conservation Plan, many of which were already raised in the 2010 mission report;
7. Urges the State Party to implement the recommendations of the 2016 Reactive Monitoring mission relating to strengthening protection, planning, conservation guidelines, documentation, management systems and capacity building, in order to address the governance weaknesses identified by the mission, with particular attention to the following:
   1. Establish the Bukhara World Heritage Unit (BWHU) and/or Steering Committee with legal authority for the implementation of the Management Plan, to ensure better protection and management of the property,
   2. Develop and consolidate a coordinated conservation plan as well as guidelines for the conservation, restoration and rehabilitation of the Historic Centre of Bukhara, so as to bring together key conservation activities for the improved protection of the property,
   3. Enhance national heritage legislation by establishing bylaws/regulations/guidelines for town planning, the rehabilitation of housing and historical urban areas, the design of new constructions, tourist services, heritage presentation amongst others, in order to guarantee the legal protection framework for the property;
8. Reiterates its concern at the high vulnerability of the property, particularly in relation to the impact of incremental change on the ensemble of traditional buildings, which constitutes a potential threat to key attributes of Outstanding Universal Value;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2018, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 43rd session in 2019.