The World Heritage Committee,
- Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
- Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.61, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
- Notes the legal and institutional arrangements for the conservation and management of cultural heritage provided by the State Party in its state of conservation report;
- Acknowledges the progress made in the preparation of the Integral Plan and encourages the State Party to complete it in accordance with the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and other management recommendations and, once available, to submit it to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies;
- Also notes the actions implemented by the State Party in areas of monitoring and risk management, as well as the promotion of housing in historic buildings and requests the State Party to submit the Risk Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre, once available, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
- Further notes that the construction of the metro station at the San Francisco Square has been concluded, but regrets that the requested consultation process with the Committee was not concluded, and that alternative locations were not sufficiently explored as repeatedly requested by the Committe;
- Notes furthermore that the State Party submitted documentation regarding the protection of the OUV and monitoring of the property and its components during the metro works, for technical review by the Advisory Bodies, and also requests the State Party to ensure that there is adequate time for such a review before commencement of tunnelling beneath the Historic Centre of Quito and that any matters raised in the technical review are addressed before these works proceed;
- Urges the State Party to:
- continue the programmes for the monitoring of vibrations and surface settlements of the construction of the tunnel proceeds as recommended by the 2016 ICOMOS Advisory mission,
- submit the results of this monitoring to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies,
- develop a programme to assess, once the metro line is in operation, the station’s impact on pedestrian flows and the uses and functions of the square and its surrounding buildings;
- Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.