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World Heritage
2 of 39 http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/world-heritage/content-section-0 Thursday 13 June 2019

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Contents
Introduction 5
Learning Outcomes 6
1 Introducing World Heritage 7
2 World Heritage 8
2.1 An overview of World Heritage 8
2.2 The development of World Heritage 9
2.3 Creating a World Heritage site 13
2.4 Types of heritage 18
2.5 Case studies 23
2.6 The effect of World Heritage 31
3 Case study 33
3.1 The Lake District as World Heritage 34
4 Conclusion 36
Keep on learning 37
Glossary 37
Acknowledgements 38

Introduction
Introduction
This course provides an overview of World Heritage, its political and cultural origins and
the role of UNESCO and other agencies in identifying and listing sites. It identifies and
discusses with exemplification the major conventions and protocols affecting World
Heritage. It shows how World Heritage expanded from cultural to natural and other sites,
as well as embracing landscapes, and intangible and industrial heritages. It provides case
studies of New Lanark as industrial heritage, Bath and Edinburgh as World Heritage
Cities, and the Tarragona archaeological and historical ensemble as a driver of economic
change in the development of cultural tourism. It also contains an audio case study
exploring the Lake District World Heritage bid.
This OpenLearn course provides a sample of Level 2 study in Arts and Humanities.

Learning Outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
● understand the history of the World Heritage Convention
● understand the wording of the World Heritage Convention and the World Heritage List
● understand the relationship between UNESCO and the states parties in the nomination of sites to the World
Heritage List
● understand how World Heritage is assessed and managed
● understand the various categories of World Heritage.
1 Introducing World Heritage
1 Introducing World Heritage

Before we tackle the concept of World Heritage, do the activity below.
Activity 1
15 minutes
Take a look at the website of the World Heritage Centre to familiarise yourself with the
World Heritage List and some of the operations of the UNESCO under the banner of
the World Heritage Centre.
Go to the ‘advanced search’ and do a search of the list based on a category of heritage
(natural, cultural or mixed) and a country to pursue your own interest. In your Learning
Journal make a list of the number of sites listed under the category you have chosen in
that country. You might like to look at what is written about some of the sites and record
the reasons why they are considered to be World Heritage.
Discussion
I was interested in looking at the number of cultural sites listed in the USA. At the time I
searched, there were eight properties listed, including the Statue of Liberty (which was
‘inscribed’, or added to the list, in 1984) and the Independence Hall (which was one of
the earliest World Heritage sites inscribed in 1979). Because there are new sites being
added to the list all the time, the numbers may be different even if you did the same
search. I hope you took the chance to take a look at the criteria for inscription and
got a better idea of what sort of places are listed on the World Heritage List.

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2 World Heritage
This course provides an overview of World Heritage, its political and cultural origins and
the role of UNESCO and other agencies in identifying and listing sites. It identifies and
discusses with exemplification the major conventions and protocols affecting World
Heritage. It shows how World Heritage expanded from cultural to natural and other sites,
as well as embracing landscapes, and intangible and industrial heritages. It provides case
studies of New Lanark as industrial heritage, Bath and Edinburgh as World Heritage
Cities, and the Tarragona archaeological and historical ensemble as a driver of economic
change in the development of cultural tourism. It discusses many issues about World
Heritage, some of which are essentially political but also affected by Eurocentric or pro-
western cultural norms that are rapidly being challenged by more inclusive views and
strategies designed to promote more representative heritages than the previous canon
encompassed. This course provides an overview and description of the function of World
Heritage.
2.1 An overview of World Heritage

This course provides a survey of the politics, history and workings of World Heritage
bodies as one of the bases for investigation and analysis in the chapters that follow.
According to Robert Hewison, heritage can mean anything you want – it can mean
everything or nothing (Hewison, 1987, p. 32). But does his critique of Britain’s heritage
also apply more widely to World Heritage? Partly perhaps, for investigation of this late
twentieth-century phenomenon reveals a vast international bureaucracy that decides
what World Heritage is and exercises huge influence over its management. Heading this,
and based in Paris, is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) World Heritage Centre, which defines, protects and promotes cultural and
natural sites, sustained in many instances by large-scale government investment. Its
global reach is supported by an array of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which
are politically independent of governments but sometimes funded by them. The great
majority derive their mission from UNESCO conventions and protocols to which their
respective countries (or state parties) are signatories. Laurajane Smith (2006, pp. 87–-
114), following Byrne ([1991] 2008) provides a review of these heritage protocols and the
discourse they have promoted. World Heritage in the 1970s was seen as being defined by
an essentially European, certainly western, mindset – revisions stuck closely to the
original precepts, and diversification, while slow, had speeded and begun to embrace
non-western and non-traditional heritages. Natural heritage seems to have been a poor
runner-up in the race for inscriptions (discussed below), suggesting a secondary role in
the World Heritage portfolio. Yet the picture is variable because in the USA, Australia and
elsewhere, natural sites dominate the World Heritage List. And, if it means anything, many
natural sites are on a massive scale compared with cultural sites.
In this course you increase your understanding of what World Heritage is: you learn more
about the NGOs that delimit its activities and run it; its complex protocols and procedures;
the scope of cultural, natural and intangible heritages; and the wide diversity of World
Heritage sites. Three case studies explore examples of industrial heritage, World Heritage
Cities and World Heritage in relation to economics. Following this course it should be
possible to explore particular interests with a better appreciation of the processes and

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implications of World Heritage strategies for designation, conservation, regeneration,

cultural tourism and other issues addressed elsewhere in this book.
This is a huge subject of truly global proportions. Coverage in this book is inevitably
limited, and both overviews and case studies are highly selective. Indeed some elements
of the world’s patrimony, natural or cultural, are of such significance that they would merit
inclusion on any list of wonders. Among natural features counted as World Heritage, the
Great Barrier Reef off Eastern Australia, the Amazonian rainforests, and human artefacts
like the Great Wall of China and the Egyptian pyramids fall into this category; but of course
there are many other famous sites in the world that do not quite match these in scale or
perhaps even in importance. This raises immediate issues: why World Heritage? What is
big enough or of such importance that it can be considered for inclusion, and does
important mean ‘biggest and best’? How is inclusion determined, and who decides what’s
in and what’s out? Who maintains and promotes such places, landscapes or cultures, and
to what political, social and economic ends? What impact do World Heritage inscriptions
and related developments have on communities, indeed on regions and nations? Such
questions are discussed and reviewed generally and in the case studies in this course.
According to the Venice Charter (ICOMOS, [1964] 1996a), World Heritage sites are
places or buildings of outstanding universal value recognised by UNESCO as constituting
a World Heritage ‘for whose protection it is the duty of the international community as a
whole to co-operate’. While the definition has been broadened substantially to embrace
many natural and cultural sites, the original ethos and underlying precepts and protocols
of the charter prevail. Moreover, as Laurajane Smith (2006, pp. 91–3, for example)
indicates, World Heritage has its own vocabulary, using the discourse of international
diplomacy. Much of its documentation, originating in French, takes on a mid-Atlantic
flavour in English, something readily appreciated from the numerous websites dedicated
to the subject. This course’s review is confined to the major international players but there
are many national, regional and local bodies whose activities can be assessed via their
websites. This review draws heavily on the writer’s personal experience as a historian and
heritage practitioner in the UK, Australia and the USA, opinions being his own not those of
heritage bodies with which he has been or continues to be associated.
2.2 The development of World Heritage

From its inception as a concept World Heritage has been integrally linked to international
politics, and those who are excluded, or exclude themselves, from the moral world
community have invariably been excluded from decisions about World Heritage. After the
First World War the League of Nations, established in 1920, aimed to promote peace and
encourage international cooperation. It was far from inclusive, for despite the enthusiasm
of President Woodrow Wilson (US president 1913–21) one of its main promoters, the
USA, refused to join. Germany was excluded until 1926 and the USSR denounced it as a
capitalist club until it eventually joined in 1934. Although partly undermined by such
structural problems and deepening political crises, the league had some modest
successes and its international agencies did much to foster internationalism. As far as
heritage was concerned, under its auspices in 1931 the International Council of Museums
(ICOM) promoted a congress in Athens which established basic principles for an
international code of practice for the preservation and restoration of ancient buildings. The
congress conclusions and the subsequent Athens Charter (ICOMOS, [1931] 1996b)
reflected a growing consciousness about historic sites, and opened up the debate about
conservation issues and the nature and value of international heritage. The charter set

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important benchmarks for future technical and moral cooperation, on the role of education
and the value of documentation.
Established near the end of the Second World War to help stabilise international relations,
the United Nations (UN) came into being in 1945. As the successor to the league, the UN
inherited similar problems, notably the conflicting interests of the five permanent members
of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, the USSR and the USA – plus the
numerous issues surrounding peace keeping in a world divided by the Cold War between
the capitalist West and the Communist bloc. At the outset many countries we know today
were missing from the UN but from the mid-1950s onwards, with the creation of new
states, the number of members grew very considerably and the residual colonial position
of the leading European powers, notably Britain and France, dwindled. This exercised
considerable influence on the UN’s many organs, among them the one that came to play a
central role in World Heritage. Postwar reconstruction in Europe, the Far East and
elsewhere was to include the rebuilding of education systems, and the organisation to
facilitate and promote this, UNESCO, was also founded in 1945. The UNESCO mission
statement focuses on the promotion of peace and harmony between nations and this has
continued to underscore its work. Indeed, it has become one of the key ‘uses’ of heritage.
From the outset UNESCO also played a role in the promotion and rescue of historic sites.
In Europe postwar reconstruction from 1945 to 1955 brought about the large-scale
restoration of damaged cities including Dresden, Warsaw, Gdansk, Blois and Vicenza,
among others. Concern at the scale of war damage was such that the Hague Convention
produced in 1954 a convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of
Armed Conflict, and which arguably had considerable significance for World Heritage in
the longer term.
Another important trigger to further action was the international concern raised by the
construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would flood the valley containing the
Abu Simbel and other temples, significant relics of ancient Egypt. In 1959, following an
appeal from Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO instigated a major conservation programme
which involved intensive archaeological excavations and the removal, stone by stone, of
the temples that were reconstructed on higher ground above the flood line (Figure 1). The
Aswan project cost US $80 million, half from fifty donor countries, an early indication of
solidarity and nations’ shared responsibility in conserving outstanding cultural sites. At the
time of writing twenty-six international ‘safe guarding campaigns’ were devoted to saving
a range of sites including Venice and its lagoon, the archaeology of Mohenjo-Daro in
Pakistan, and restoring the Borobudur temple compounds in Indonesia.
These campaigns are much broader in scope than the preservation of specific World
Heritage sites, being more technologically complex and often involving investment of
millions of US dollars. The Venice project, dating from 1966, following UNESCO’s
decision to promote a campaign designed to save the city after the disastrous floods of
1965, is one of the most complex (Figure 2). This, as UNESCO notes, was a task
requiring time, high levels of technical skill and, above all, money. But the international
synergy arising from this project proved a vital inspiration both to the production of the
Venice Charter and to the later World Heritage Convention.

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Figure 1 The Rialto Bridge, Venice. Unknown photographer. Photo: © Siwiak Travel/
Alamy.
Venice came to be associated with the second major protocol concerning conservation,
for there in 1964 an international congress of heritage experts produced the Venice
Charter. This defines internationally accepted standards of conservation relating to
buildings and other sites. It emphasises the importance of authenticity and maintaining
the historical and physical context of the site, and makes clear that monuments are to be
conserved as historical evidence as well as cultural artefacts. It also spells out a code for
restoration and preservation. While concerned mainly with buildings and cultural sites, the
Venice Charter continues to be the most influential international conservation protocol.
Figure 2 Sandstone head of Ramses II being moved to be reassembled at the new site
of Abu Simbel, 1966. Photographed by Terrence Spencer. Photo: © Terrence Spencer/
Time and Life Pictures/Getty Images.
The Venice Charter became the founding document of the International Council on
Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), another international NGO with roots going back to the
First International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments which
had produced the Athens Charter. ICOMOS, formed in 1965, assembled a network of
architects, historians, landscape architects, engineers, archaeologists, geographers, town
planners, anthropologists, conservators, heritage administrators and site managers to
help assess sites. It was to provide evaluations of cultural and mixed properties for
inscription in the World Heritage List (see below). The Parisbased ICOMOS, assisted by a
growing number of national committees, thus became a key player in World Heritage
selection.
At the same time the concept of combining conservation of cultural sites with natural sites
was gaining currency in the USA. In 1965 a White House conference in Washington DC
called for international cooperation to protect ‘the world’s superb natural and scenic areas
and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry’. In 1968
another NGO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which had been
established with its headquarters in Switzerland, developed a similar set of proposals.

2 World Heritage
Presented to a UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm these proposals

established international measures of protection and conservation similar to those for
cultural sites.
Hence the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural
Heritage (or ‘World Heritage Convention’) developed from the coincidence of separate
movements focusing on the one hand on the preservation of cultural sites, and on the
other dealing with the conservation of nature. Ultimately a single text was agreed to by all
parties and the convention was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in
November 1972. Since then all countries joining UNESCO have ratified the convention.
The Venice Charter and ‘pre-convention’ background are vital to an understanding of the
relationship between the major heritage charters since 1964. The sheer number of
different charters indicates the increasing ‘governmentalisation’ of heritage over the
course of the late twentieth century.
This background also helps de-code what has become politically an increasingly complex
field reflected in a large international bureaucracy and a proliferation of related national
organisations. On the ground there has been increasing diversification in listings, with
more groupings of sites, some in quite interesting ways, like serial (or groups of similar)
sites, route ways, industrial heritage, designations of heritage cities and cultural
landscapes, the emergence of new heritages (such as intangible heritage), and of large-
scale restoration and safeguarding campaigns.
UNESCO claims the World Heritage Convention is not just ‘words on paper’ but an
instrument for concrete action in preserving threatened sites or endangered environ-
ments, species and, more recently, cultures.
The convention is an important document and merits close analysis, albeit briefly in this
context. In short, it:
● defines the cultural and natural heritage

● calls for national and international protection of the heritage established by the World
Heritage Committee (see below)
● calls on states to submit lists
● draws up a World Heritage List
● defines World Heritage in danger
● promotes international assistance, supported by state parties
● sets up a secretariat
● establishes a fund for the protection of cultural and natural heritage
● promotes educational programmes.
Hence the convention established the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, comprised of
twenty-one state parties (countries) which are elected for a fixed term by the General
Assembly of State Parties. A growing number of countries have ratified the convention:
184 in total by 2007. The convention has encouraged these countries to endorse its
objects, and to catalogue, name and conserve sites of cultural or natural importance to the
common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions listed sites can obtain funds from
the World Heritage Fund.
While these aims are highly laudable, fulfilment is potentially complex and in some
contexts politically sensitive, but there are obvious benefits. The overarching benefit is
being part of a global community dedicated to conserving international cultural and natural
heritage. The main rewards are: sharing a commitment to a heritage legacy; raising

2 World Heritage
awareness about preservation in localities and regions; access to funding via the World
Heritage Centre, especially for threatened sites (and the list of World Heritage in Danger
repays investigation); development of management plans for sites and training in heritage
conservation and promotion; the prestige of inscription of national sites; and economic
development, especially sustainable (cultural and environmental) tourism (UNESCO,
1972; World Heritage Centre, 2005).
Once more reflecting UN political principles, there is a strong element of international
cooperation and goodwill reflected here, plus the obvious influence of World Heritage
accolade(s) on attracting initial funds, medium and long-term investment, and the
multiplier effect on the economy, notably through tourism. Although little of this is
apparently contentious, it can be, as was the case in 1986 when President Ronald
Reagan (US president 1981–9) withdrew the USA, a move interpreted at the time as a
reaction to UNESCO’s anti-imperialist messages and accusations of corruption. Margaret
Thatcher (UK prime minister 1979–90) followed suit with considerable implications for UK
heritage accreditation. Arguably, as many heritage professionals can testify, despite its
enormously rich heritage, it took the UK years to recover its influence after Tony Blair (UK
prime minister 1997–2007) returned the country to the UNESCO fold in 1997.
2.3 Creating a World Heritage site
2.3.1 Nomination
Politics inevitably influence the complex business of nomination to the World Heritage
List. While UNESCO sets universal guidelines, in reality the process varies greatly from
country to country and highlights very different national priorities and selection
procedures. Ironically for a ‘world’ listing, it is the state parties that propose the sites, so
national priorities may well be in conflict with efforts to produce a representative list at a
global level.
There are three stages: listing, nomination and designation or inscription. At the outset a
country makes an inventory of its most important cultural, natural or other features. This is
called the Tentative List and is important because according to the protocols a country
cannot nominate properties that have not already been listed here. Second, it selects a
site/property from this list to place in a Nomination File, with an entry that is as
comprehensive as possible and prepared with the advice of the World Heritage Centre.
The next stage is the evaluation by ICOMOS and/or IUCN, which then make their
recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The committee meets once a year
primarily to decide whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World
Heritage List. Given the complexity of the process and the detailed submissions, the great
majority of suggestions are approved, though the committee sometimes defers the
decision to request further information or data to enhance the case.
2.3.2 Selection criteria

There are ten Selection Criteria that a place, object or practice of heritage needs to meet
for inclusion. Until 2004 there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four for natural
heritage. In 2005 this was modified to make one set often criteria (and also to take
account of intangible heritage). Nominated sites are described as being of ‘outstanding
universal value’ and must meet at least one of the ten criteria.

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Cultural criteria
1. To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius.
2. To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a
cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology,
monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.
3. To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a
civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
4. To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological
ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
5. To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-
use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the
environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of
irreversible change.
6. To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with
beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The
Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with
other criteria).
Natural criteria
(vii) to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional
natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s
history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological
processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or
physiographic features;
(ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going
ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of
terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities
of plants and animals;
(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site
conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened
species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or
conservation.
(UNESCO, 2008a)
While subsequent conventions have altered the balance, few would dispute the bias
towards cultural sites/artefacts rather than natural/environmental ones, but there is an
attempt to be inclusive of many human and natural phenomena. The criteria are certainly
open to wide interpretation and one might well question whether fitting only one criterion is
enough to justify World Heritage status.
All of this raises some interesting issues about the process, particularly how the selection
for nominations is made and, indeed, by whom. According to one analyst, nomination of
sites for the World Heritage List largely depends on who takes the initiative. The answer to
the question of who initiates nominations differs by country, over time and according to the

2 World Heritage
type of site. Differences between countries are most obvious when sites are selected at
the centre, the initiative for nomination being taken at national level, often during the initial
period after signing up to the convention and the construction of the Tentative List.
Depending on the context, decentralised nominations sometimes replace centralised
ones over time. And in general those involved in the cultural field have always been more
interested and active than those in natural heritage. While this is suggestive of the view
that World Heritage is primarily concerned with elite culture, in some countries (like the
USA) state parks and natural or scientific sites were and remain well represented relative
to cultural ones.
A recent study of World Heritage nomination (van der Aa, 2005) includes some interesting
case studies of the processes in Poland, the Netherlands, Mexico, the USA, Spain and
the UK which identify various patterns, including: a ‘historical core’ of typical sites, as in
Poland; the key narrative of the ‘battle against water’ in the Netherlands (also specifically
concentrated in the historical core of the country and dating to the Dutch ‘Golden Age’);
core sites of pre-Hispanic and Hispanic Mexico, centrally selected (and with belated
recognition of Mexico’s post-colonial heritage). In the USA a mixed ‘best-judgement’ list,
assembled at federal level but taking account of heritage and environmental professionals
at both federal and state levels, has succeeded in highlighting a wide range of
representative histories, landscapes and cultures. However, it has also taken account of
both the long-established and highly developed system of national parks (referred to
below) and sites already on the National Register of Historic Places. In Spain the large
degree of autonomy to the regions has ensured strong representation of regional
identities and cultures including, in Andalusia and elsewhere, Muslimoriented sites. Also
included is one of the early ‘serial sites’, the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela that
runs through five regions and was listed in 1993 (van der Aa, 2005, pp. 58–61).
The UK’s approach has also been relatively decentralised, reflecting its constituent
countries. In the later 1980s and into the 1990s, backed by statutory bodies like English
Heritage and Historic Scotland plus numerous heritage groups and professionals, this
process created a list drawn from all parts of the country but with fewer culturally distinct
sites than, say, Spain. It seems that although some central responsibility was evident, it
was rather a piecemeal operation involving many bodies (500 organisations and
individuals were consulted in England alone) and with different working methods in each
context, including bodies in Wales and Scotland (all essentially working separately).
Certainly many consultants and experts expressed their views, but the diversity of the
UK’s heritage made it extremely difficult to focus on anything more than the obvious, the
big frontrunners, Stonehenge, Westminster, Bath etc. However, the earliest listings in the
1980s comprised essentially elite selections, mainly of English sites. This changed over
time to embrace industrial heritage in later listings, for example Blaenavon iron works and
landscapes, the other industrial villages of New Lanark and Saltaire, and more natural
features such as the spectacular Dorset and East Devon Coast. It is unclear how the list of
sites in overseas territories was arrived at, perhaps another example of the essentially
‘top-down’ approach generally adopted (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1999).
2.3.3 Global representation

In 2009 there were 878 World Heritage sites situated in 145 State Parties (countries). Of
the total, 679 are essentially cultural, 174 natural and 25 described as mixed properties.
As Table 1 shows, UNESCO classifies countries into five geographic regions, each
perhaps with shared concepts of heritage – Africa, the Arab States (North Africa and the
Middle East), Asia and the Pacific (including Australia, New Zealand and Oceania),

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Europe and North America (USA and Canada), and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Note that Russia and Caucasus countries are included in the Europe and North America
region. Table 1 includes a breakdown of the sites according to these regions and their
classification:
Table 1 Types of site by region (UNESCO)

Region Cultural Natural Mixed Total %
Africa 40 33 3 76 9%
Arab States 60 4 1 65 7%
Asia and the Pacific 125 48 9 182 21%
Europe and North 372 54 9 435 49%
America
Latin America and the 82 35 3 120 14%
Caribbean
(Source: data from UNESCO, 2009)
Analysis of such statistics needs to take account of the way UNESCO defines its
geographic regions, which inevitably skews the data. Indeed, the emphasis on
administrative rather than political units makes evaluation difficult beyond the obvious. So
where are the sites in Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and elsewhere?
The overwhelming dominance of Europe and North America, with nearly half the sites,
suggests the developed world has been highly proactive with regard to World Heritage
and been suitably rewarded by UNESCO. Second, the prominence of cultural sites, more
than three-quarters of the total, is clear, and raises pretty obvious questions about the
balance between cultural and natural heritage in the World Heritage portfolio. And it
suggests very different views about what constitutes World Heritage in different parts of
the globe.
2.3.4 A wider vision?

The global and typological distribution of World Heritage sites revealed by these data was
historically even more biased than at present. But they also suggest that the initiative
launched by the World Heritage Centre in 1994 to promote a global strategy for a more
balanced, representative and credible World Heritage List has been at least partially
successful. By the early 1990s it had become obvious that despite more than twenty years
of work World Heritage lacked balance in the types of property and the geographical
areas represented. Of 410 registered sites, 304 were cultural only 90 natural and 16
mixed, the great majority in developed regions of the globe, notably Europe.
It is worth examining this 1994 resume of UNESCO global strategy, asking three
questions as we do so. What were the key objectives of the strategy? Why were they
regarded as necessary? What was the outcome?
The objectives of the Global Strategy

By adopting the Global Strategy, the World Heritage Committee wanted to
broaden the definition of World Heritage to better reflect the full spectrum of our
world’s cultural and natural treasures and to provide a comprehensive
framework and operational methodology for implementing the World Heritage
Convention.

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This new vision goes beyond the narrow definitions of heritage and strives to
recognise and protect sites that are outstanding demonstrations of human
coexistence with the land as well as human interactions, cultural coexistence,
spirituality and creative expression.
Crucial to the Global Strategy are efforts to encourage countries to become
States Parties to the Convention, to prepare Tentative Lists and to prepare
nominations of properties from categories and regions currently not well-
represented on the World Heritage List.
Analysis
A global study carried out by ICOMOS from 1987 to 1993 revealed that Europe,
historic towns and religious monuments, Christianity, historical periods and
‘elitist’ architecture (in relation to vernacular) were all overrepresented on the
World Heritage List; whereas, all living cultures, and especially ‘traditional
cultures’, were under-represented.
At its 28th session in 2004, the World Heritage Committee reviewed more
recent analysis of the World Heritage List and the Tentative Lists prepared by
ICOMOS and IUCN. Both analyses were carried out on regional, chronological,
geographical and thematic bases in order to evaluate the progress of the
Global Strategy.
ICOMOS’s study found that the reasons for the gaps in the World Heritage List
fall into two main categories:
Structural – relating to the World Heritage nomination process, and to
managing and protecting cultural properties; and qualitative – relating to the
way properties are identified, assessed and evaluated.
lUCN’s study pointed out that the natural and mixed sites currently inscribed on
the World Heritage List cover almost all regions and habitats of the world with a
relatively balanced distribution. However, there are still major gaps in the World
Heritage List for natural areas such as: tropical/temperate grasslands,
savannas, lake systems, tundra and polar systems, and cold winter deserts.
Ongoing efforts
Since the launching of the Global Strategy, 39 new countries have ratified the
World Heritage Convention, many from small Pacific Island States, Eastern
Europe, Africa and Arab States.
The number of countries around the globe that have signed the World Heritage
Convention in the course of the last ten years has risen from 139 to 178. The
number of States Parties who have submitted Tentative Lists complying with
the format established by the Committee has grown from 33 to 132. New
categories for World Heritage sites have also been promoted, such as the
categories of cultural landscapes, itineraries, industrial heritage, deserts,
coastal-marine and small-island sites.
Important conferences and thematic studies aimed at implementing the Global
Strategy have been held in Africa, the Pacific and Andean subregions, the Arab
and Caribbean regions, central Asia and south-east Asia. These well-focused
studies have become important guides for the implementation of the World
Heritage Convention in these regions. In an effort to further enhance the under-

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represented categories of sites and improve geographical coverage, the World

Heritage Committee has recently decided to limit the number of nominations
that can be presented by each State Party and the number of nominations it will
review during its session.
The World Heritage Committee works in co-operation with every State Party to
the World Heritage Convention as well as its three Advisory Bodies: ICOMOS,
IUCN and ICCROM [International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and
Restoration of Cultural Property], in order to make greater strides in diversifying
the World Heritage List and make it truly balanced and representative of the
world’s heritage.
(UNESCO, 1994)
The most important aims were seen as broadening the definitions of World Heritage,
encouraging other countries to sign up, prepare lists or make nominations, especially of
categories and regions poorly represented. These steps were obviously necessary
because the list was dominated by the European ‘canon’ of (mainly) cultural sites. In
contradistinction to the ‘canon’ the strategy advocated a more ‘representative sample’ of
heritage sites on the list, improved geographical coverage and the promotion of new
heritages. The two advisory NGOs, ICOMOS and IUCN, noted structural and qualitative
problems, and the latter also saw major gaps, in particular types of natural environments
that remained unrepresented. The outcome was that more countries signed up to the
convention, helping the process of diversification.
This suggests much greater diversity in heritages – greater inclusion – but not necessarily
a significant move away from essentially elite culture dominated by the European mind set
– or at least that of the developed world. But it is obviously a slow process of change, not
helped, even the international heritage professionals recognise, by the mountain of
bureaucracy World Heritage represents.
Having examined something of the structures and processes in the development of World
Heritage we move on to look at various types of heritage backed up with some case
studies.
2.4 Types of heritage
2.4.1 Natural heritage: large and small

With 174 natural and 25 ‘mixed’ sites out of 878 (in 2009), natural heritage is rather under-
represented in the portfolio of World Heritage, at least if raw data are taken as a measure.
While the scale and environmental or scientific qualities of many natural sites are such
that it is difficult to say whether we are comparing like with like, there are other
explanations for the imbalance. The first, it will be recalled, is the relative under-
representation of natural heritage specialists on international NGOs; the second, that
some countries have a long tradition of national parks or reserves along with legislative
frameworks for environmental conservation, sometimes enacted long before it began to
be addressed as a serious global issue. In some ways it is therefore surprising that natural
sites are so well represented in the USA (and Canada), though in both contexts cultural
sites were certainly less prominent than in Europe. In the USA, where national parks were
pioneered by a Scot, John Muir, the justifications are highly nationalistic, as the following
statement shows:

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For those who seek to grasp the spirit of the nation and understand the vast
array of disparate elements that is America, there is no better teacher than the
U.S. National Park System. This is one of the country’s most valuable
inheritances, held in trust for the citizens of the United States and nurtured for
enjoyment by future generations.
National Pride, Global Signi fi cance
Through the national parks, the United States preserves its natural, cultural and
historic heritage and offers to the world a window on the American experience.
It also acts as steward to resources invaluable to the world.
The secretary of the interior, through the National Park Service, is responsible
for identifying and nominating U.S. sites to the World Heritage list. Currently,
there are 20 World Heritage sites in the United States, including two sites jointly
administered with Canada. Among the U.S. preserves judged important to the
entire world are Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky
Mountains and the Everglades.
In these and other wild places of North America, the U.S. National Park Service
labours to carry forward naturalist John Muir’s dream, as expressed in 1901, to
preserve ‘the beauty, grandeur, and all-embracing usefulness of our wild
mountain forest reservations and parks, with a view to inciting the people to
come and enjoy them, and get them into their hearts’.
(Bureau of International Information Programs, US Department of State, 2006)
While the political message is essentially subverted there is a strong emphasis, as one
would expect, on the ‘spirit of the nation’ and preserving national identity, though quite
where the Indigenous Americans (many displaced from their lands, including the national
parks) fit in is not mentioned. As Harrison (2008) points out, settler colonies like the USA
needed to emphasise the distance between natural and cultural heritage to promote the
idea of ‘wilderness’ – a blank, apparently unoccupied country which apart from the politics
would justify the historical and moral position of occupation.
The past too can be made to seem like a blank canvas, but with that said the parks are
held in trust for the future and the authorities see themselves as custodians of nature on
the grand scale. The wild, as Muir envisaged, is to be enjoyed by all; and there is an
obligation on the National Park Service to promote his precepts. Certainly the national
parks are well managed, attract large numbers and their contribution to the tourist
economy in the USA is known to be substantial.
Elsewhere, for example in Asia or South America, are sites that cover vast areas, and
consequently issues of protection, conservation and management which they share with
cultural heritage are often more complex and, in crossing boundaries, are both highly
political and genuinely transnational in scale.
The scale and ethos of natural heritage conservation in the UK may be rather different, but
it does share many of these problems in microcosm, as can be appreciated from the case
of the Dorset and East Devon Coast, a World Heritage site since 2001 (Figure 3). This site
comprises more than 200 miles of undeveloped coastline and countryside, with cliff
exposures and rock formations of international geological significance. Its status has had
a number of valuable outcomes. First, it has raised awareness internationally, regionally,
nationally and locally, generating enthusiasm and pride in the community, which in turn
has brought together other sectors in support of initiatives.

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Figure 3 Fossil at Undercliff, Lyme Regis, part of the Dorset and East Devon Coast
World Heritage site. Photographed by David Noble. Photo: © David Noble Photography/
Alamy.
Second, it has helped protect the site by limiting planning applications for inappropriate
development. Third, it has encouraged enhanced funding to manage the site, improve
transport and develop tourist potential. The spinoffs have been extensive and are thought
to have contributed greatly to the local economy, mainly through the large numbers of
visitors attracted to the site.
2.4.2 Cultural landscapes

It is appropriate at this point to refer to another interesting concept in the World Heritage
portfolio, the cultural landscape, which was influenced significantly by the long tradition of
European landscape painting. A great variety of landscapes can be identified with
distinctive regions of the earth. Invariably they combine a natural environment modified
over the ages by humans, and they have become significant and often politically sensitive
because they reflect specific techniques of land use that sustain biological diversity and
are under threat from inappropriate development or climate change. Moreover, they are
often associated with intangible heritages unique to the communities who live there;
examples are religious beliefs, and artistic and traditional customs, perhaps reflecting the
spiritual relationship of people with their environment.
In UNESCO’s view ‘cultural landscape’ embraces a diversity of interactions between
humankind and its natural environment (see also West and Ndlovu, 2010). Cultural
landscapes often reflect specific techniques of sustainable land use that take into
consideration the characteristics and limits of the natural environment in which they are
established, and a specific spiritual relation to nature. Protection of cultural landscapes
can contribute to modern techniques of sustainable land use and can maintain or enhance
natural values in the landscape. The continued existence of traditional forms of land use
supports biological diversity in many regions of the world.
Three main types of cultural landscape can be identified, the first being the ‘intentional’
landscape, that is, one designed and created by human intervention. These landscapes
include gardens and park landscapes constructed for aesthetic reasons and sometimes
associated with religious or other monumental buildings and ensembles. The second is
the organically evolved landscape that may have developed for social, economic,
administrative and/or religious reasons but that still retains a close relationship to its
natural environment. Such landscapes reflect this process of evolution in their form and
component features. Two interesting subgroups merit attention: there is the ‘relic’ (or
fossil) landscape, where an evolutionary process came to an end at some point in the
past, either abruptly or over a period. Its significant distinguishing features are, however,
still visible in material form. The other sub-group is the ‘continuing’ landscape, where an
active social role in contemporary society is closely associated with traditional ways of life
but where the evolutionary process is still underway (though this may actually fail to

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preserve the landscape itself). At the same time this landscape exhibits significant
material evidence of its evolution over time. The third main type of cultural landscape is
described as the ‘associative cultural landscape’, where significance arises from strong
religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural element rather than from tangible
cultural evidence which may be limited or indeed totally absent.
Politics is an important sub-text in examples which indicate the association of landscape
heritage with specifically religious rights among tribal peoples. Two of the earliest cultural
landscape designations are in the Australasian region: the Tongariro National Park in New
Zealand and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia (Figure 4), both essentially
spiritual sites.
Figure 4 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park World Heritage site, central Australia.
Photographed by David Ball. Photo: © David Ball/Alamy.
Tongariro, inscribed in 1993, is an area of dramatic landscapes with active and extinct
volcanoes and diverse natural environments. At the heart of the park are mountains with
strong religious and cultural significance to the Maori people, a feature shared with Uluru,
the immense monolith that dominates the vast sandy plains of Central Australia and is
linked to belief systems. Clearly these are complex sites, tangible on the ground but at the
same time linked to the imaginative and spiritual vitality of their peoples. In such cases
cultural landscapes have close associations with the intangible heritage of the peoples
involved. And although these examples are no longer under threat from inappropriate
development, many others elsewhere are not in such a favourable position, particularly
where political decisions often affect resource exploitation for minerals or timber.
2.4.3 Intangible heritage
The ICH is traditional and living at the same time.

(UNESCO, 2008b)
This brings us to another category, the ‘non-material’ intangible cultural heritage (ICH),
which recognises the importance of living heritage, cultural diversity and its maintenance
for the future as ‘a guarantee for continuing creativity’. It came about because of criticism
from countries with significant oral, folklore and other cultural traditions where indigenous
people thought the list dominated by built or material heritage. According to the 2003
Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, it is seen in what
UNESCO describes as the following ‘domains’:
● oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of the

intangible cultural heritage
● performing arts (such as traditional music, dance and theatre)
● social practices, rituals and festive events
● knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe

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● traditional craftsmanship.
(UNESCO, 2008b)
Such heritage can be seen in the practices, representatives, expression, knowledge and
skills that committees, groups and individuals define as part of their cultural heritage.
Perhaps rather optimistically UNESCO sees ICH being transmitted from generation to
generation, repeated in response to environment, the nature of its history, promoting
identity and continuity, respecting cultural diversity and human creativity (as well as
human rights), and promoting respect and sustainable development among communities.
Much is transmitted orally and practised collectively, and tradition bearers often have
important roles. The open-ended nature of ICH means it is often the most endangered
component in World Heritage due to globalisation and the relative lack of interest among
the young, language being a prime example. Moreover, ICH is not necessarily fixed to
specific communities, groups or individuals, because it can switch from one context to
another. All of this raises significant issues as to what ICH actually is and how
representative examples can be, but nevertheless several significant initiatives have been
undertaken including listings, identifying ICH requiring ‘urgent safeguarding’ and a
number of projects mainly focused on developing countries. Beyond these, steps to
identify Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity got underway
following a proclamation at the UNESCO General Conference in 1997 (see Harrison and
Rose, 2010). Between 2001 and 2005, ninety outstanding examples of ICH were
identified, including a wide range of phenomena similar to those described above.
One domain that has attracted particular attention is the safeguarding of endangered
languages. This programme revealed some staggering and damning statistics about
languages as tools of communication and views of the world. About 50 per cent of the
world’s 6700 languages are in danger of disappearing. Moreover 96 per cent of the
languages are spoken by 4 per cent of the global population; one language disappears
every two weeks and 80 per cent of African languages have no orthography. UNESCO’s
Intangible Heritage division supports an Endangered Languages Programme which aims
to promote and protect linguistic diversity by such activities as assessing the extent of
endangerment, raising awareness about the issues through publications and events,
promoting community-based safeguarding projects particularly in Sub-Sahara Africa, and
identifying good practice for the preservation of threatened languages and related
cultures. A convention similar to that for cultural and natural heritages became operational
in 2000.
Some work has also been done in developed countries where older and increasingly
marginalised languages have been swamped by majority cultures. These cultures are
being promoted in a whole range of contexts, the Celtic languages being an interesting
case, seen, for example, in Brittany, Galicia, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and the Scottish
Highlands and Islands. In the last, the Scottish government has supported a project led by
the Scottish Museums Council to assess the scope of ICH in Scotland, in particular the
position of Gaelic language and culture, which is undergoing a revival.
Defining ICH is no easy matter; like serial and linear sites, it is transnational, and crosses
political boundaries, cultures, kin groups and languages. It embraces a wide range of
social practices, popular cultures and skills of many kinds. It is also dynamic, and though it
derives much from the past (as do most other heritages), it is ‘living’ heritage. Hence, its
vibrancy in many contexts needs to be contrasted with decline in others, raising many
problems of record, preservation and promotion.

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2.4.4 Other heritage categories

Other items from the growing World Heritage portfolio merit brief discussion.
Diversification beyond major cultural and natural sites has resulted in some interesting
permutations, such as linear features or ensembles of sites linked in different ways. Best
known perhaps is the Camino de Santiago, the Pilgrim Way to Santiago de Campostela in
Galicia, north-west Spain. The old city itself is a remarkable ensemble of Baroque
cathedral, churches and civic buildings, designated a World Heritage site in 1985 and the
object of a major conservation effort since (Figure 5). Described as ‘a journey of the soul
and spirit’, the Pilgrim Way, also known as St James’s Way, is in fact several different trails
along ancient route ways in France and Spain that all lead to the supposed shrine of St
James in Santiago. Here the body of the fisherman and apostle is believed to have been
laid to rest in the eighth century. The origins of the route date back to the time when
Christian pilgrims, some from distant parts of Europe, would set off to visit and pray at the
saint’s final resting place. It is one of the most important pilgrimages beyond those of
Rome and Jerusalem and still attracts thousands each year to add to recreational
walkers. The route is marked with a scallop shell, the symbol of the saint, and the way was
declared a European Cultural Route in 1987 and a World Heritage site in 1993.
Figure 5 The cathedral, Santiago de Compostela. Photographed by David A. Barnes.

Photo: © David A. Barnes/Alamy. The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is a massive
exercise in various architectural styles and forms the focus of the World Heritage site.
In sharp contrast perhaps, railways also fall into this category, prime examples being the
mountain railways of India, first designated in 1999 and by extension again in 2005. The
‘site’ includes the famous Darjeeling mountain railway and now incorporates the Nilgiri
line in Tamil Nadu state, another remarkable legacy of the colonial era constructed 1891–
1908 and still fully operational.
A sub-set is what one consultant planner has described as ‘boundaries heritage’, which
might be linked to cultural or historical landscapes encroached on by others, say through
invasion. An interesting example is the initiative by the World Heritage Centre to define
and promote the frontiers of the Roman empire transnationally across the Upper German-
Raetian Limes and, in the UK, Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and the Antonine Wall
(listed 2008), linking the Forth and Clyde in Central Scotland. Making excellent walking
routes, all three incorporate important archaeological features such as forts, camps and
civil settlements (often themselves linked by Roman roads or other historic routes).
2.5 Case studies
2.5.1 Case study: Industrial heritage in New Lanark, Scotland

To counter the claims of some that World Heritage is mainly concerned with ancient
civilisations and the heritage of dominant elites, World Heritage has also embraced

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objects, places and practices more closely identified with ordinary people living and
working in an industrial world rather than earlier times. Although the famous Wieliczka salt
mine in Poland, inscribed in 1978, was the only industrial World Heritage site until the
listing of Ironbridge in 1986, the years since have seen a growth in the numbers of such
sites internationally. Among them is New Lanark, a former cotton mill, which has inspired
me since boyhood. Industrial heritage has its critics, most famously in the UK where
Hewison (1987, especially pp. 41–7) explained its growth as a phenomenon reflecting
past industrial and technical achievements in a climate of contracting manufacture and
economic decline. Its rise, he thought, was partly a response to misplaced nostalgia for
working-class life in communities undergoing rapid change and in some cases a response
to the cataclysmic decline in heavy industries such as mining and metallurgy.
Despite the critique, and long before Hewison disseminated his ideas, I believed that the
‘gilt on the gingerbread approach’ to heritage needed revision and became involved in the
promotion of industrial heritage in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. As co-editor of a
journal devoted to industrial archaeology and history I came into contact with many
practitioners committed to broadening the scope of heritage and over the years since
have been involved with the team working on the restoration and promotion of New
Lanark, one of a clutch of sites inscribed in 2000–1 (Historic Scotland, 2000). Its story
illustrates the long-term trajectory that is often required to see such large-scale projects
through to a successful conclusion. Even then, issues remain as to how such sites can be
managed in future.
At first sight New Lanark looks like a piece of the early industrial revolution frozen in time,
but its importance extends beyond the obvious to include important associations with
Robert Owen, the social reformer, who used it as a test bed for his ideas (Figures 6 and
7). Moreover it is located near the Falls of Clyde, like the English Lakes, a major attraction
for romantic tourists during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (Donna-
chie, 2004). The mills, begun in 1785 by David Dale, a prominent Scottish business man,
became the largest of their kind for the period, with a workforce of over 2000. The
adjacent village, built into the valley sides, provided housing and other facilities for the
workers, many recruited from the Scottish Highlands or the cities. Dale was widely
celebrated for his philanthropy, particularly in his treatment of child apprentices recruited
to work in his mills. While large factories with paternalistic regimes were unusual, New
Lanark was already attracting large numbers of visitors, presumably reform-minded,
including many from overseas.
Figure 6 New Lanark World Heritage site, showing the former Owen House
(foreground) with the workers’ housing beyond. Photographed by Findlay. Photo: ©
Findlay/Alamy.
In 1799 Dale sold the mills to a Manchester firm and Owen, a youthful but successful
entrepreneur, became manager. He introduced a raft of workplace and community
reforms aimed at improving efficiency, raising productivity, and improving the environment
and social conditions. By 1812 he was promoting popular education, in particular
‘character formation’ which would be a basis for social reform. His ideas found expression

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in his essay ‘A New View of Society’ (Owen, 2004) which proposed education as a means
of improvement for the working classes, exemplified from his experience at New Lanark,
and suggested a plan of social regeneration with national, indeed international,
application. In the troubled times following the end of the Napoleonic War these ideas
proved attractive to elites who felt threatened by disorder, and after 1817, apparently
Owen’s ‘millennial moment’, he was describing an ambitious plan for ‘Villages of Unity and
Mutual Co-operation’ as the basis for social recovery. In 1816 he opened his Institute for
the Formation of Character, followed thereafter by a school. He also played a prominent
role in factory reform. This frenzied activity and widespread propaganda made Owen
famous and thousands descended on his community, though in declining numbers after
1825 when he quit New Lanark for another community experiment in the USA
(Donnachie, 2004). Owen was always controversial, partly because of his attacks on
sectarianism, which he saw as undermining his ‘New Moral World’ and the promotion of
community and cooperation instead of competition. After 1830 the man became a
movement with numerous Owenite organisations dedicated to advancing his ideas. In the
end Owen made little headway, but his followers proved highly influential in almost every
popular reform movement of the nineteenth century including the campaign for
compulsory education.
Figure 7 New Lanark World Heritage site, showing (from the left) the former cotton mills,
the rear elevation of Owen’s Institute, and Owen’s School for Children. Unknown
photographer. Photo: © South West Images Scotland/ Alamy.
For more than a century after Owen’s death in 1858 people were attracted to New Lanark,
which was seen as an icon for his ideas on industrial relations, corporate philanthropy,
cooperation and social reform. Among the visitors were many from the USA and Japan,
which helped maintain the profile of the place and may even have been an inducement to
the owners to keep the village in a reasonable state of repair. Although the company and
the local authorities were well aware of the village’s history, the challenge of refurbishment
was beyond their resources. When the factory ultimately closed in 1968, the decay was
rapid, though a housing association had started to modernise some of the workers’
housing and in 1971 gained a Civic Trust Award for this work and the first formal
recognition of the village’s architectural importance. Unfortunately, as is often the case, an
unsympathetic industry, in this case scrap metal extraction, moved in on the mills and the
threat to their future was soon obvious. The turning point came in 1973–4 with the
establishment of the New Lanark Conservation Trust, which thanks to local and national
support acquired the mills and began the painstaking task of restoration. New Lanark, like
many other heritage projects of the period, became a significant player in employment
creation, with a major multiplier effect on the local economy.
Work began on the housing, with a mix of rented apartments controlled by the housing
association and other tenement blocks restored by private owners to designated plans
drawn up by the conservation trust. The communal buildings, including Owen’s Institute
and School for Children were then restored, while the mills were converted to offices with
large areas devoted to a museum and interpretation facilities. In the centre of the village,

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several of the rooms in Owen’s house were restored in period fashion. The basement
contains an interpretation devoted to his community experiment at New Harmony in the
USA and later ventures in Owenism. Across the street a tenement house was left with its
original fittings to display the contrasting living conditions of a typical mill family. The
company store was retained to emphasise Owen’s concern for fair trade, connection to
consumer cooperation and use of profits for the school. The first of Dale’s mills, Mill No. 1,
was converted to a hotel, which ultimately boasted a conference centre and
comprehensive leisure facilities, while a youth hostel opened in one of the tenement
blocks at the southern end of the village. A turbine that drove the machinery in the mills
now powers the whole complex and New Lanark is also a net exporter to the national grid.
Latterly the trust was assisted by European and Heritage Lottery funding and the Scottish
government.
A World Heritage nomination was put forward in 1986 and after a gap of many years
(being included in the Tentative List of 1999) the site was inscribed in 2001 (Historic
Scotland, 2000). First Minister for Scotland Donald Dewar believed New Lanark had
waited too long, and was instrumental in successfully promoting its case. The restoration
of the mills and village was thus a long-term project of over 40 years’ duration but it has
brought enormous benefits (Arnold, 2000; Donnachie and Hewitt, 1999). Revitalisation
has had a major impact on the local community and region with Lanark itself the object of
building restorations and streetscape schemes, major housing projects, a new green-field
agricultural market and the inevitable retail parks. The new developments have, however,
put a major strain on infrastructure, notably access roads and other utilities. Some think
that New Lanark has received too much attention and investment at the expense of other
local projects, a common problem it seems when professionals move in on heritage sites.
Last, although New Lanark does not suffer from the ‘pain and shame’ of ‘difficult heritage’,
it presents interesting problems of interpretation largely arising from the controversies
surrounding Robert Owen. While these are more about history than heritage, they present
interesting issues. How and why was a successful capitalist and corporate philanthropist
reinvented as the ‘Father of Socialism’ and what part did New Lanark play in the story?
Some of the answers are to be found in the place itself, which beyond interpretation
presents many issues of site policy and management common to such monuments.
Reflecting on the case study

New Lanark has been an enormous success and has gained many plaudits and awards
for the long-term commitment of its trust and management to restoration. At the time of
writing it attracts 350,000 or more visitors per annum, approximately a quarter paying for
entry to its attractions. The hotel, conference centre and other facilities are also very
successful, and there is a vigorous programme of cultural and other events. There is a
strong relationship with bodies promoting the splendid environment and natural history,
notably the Scottish Wildlife Trust, which has a visitor centre in the village. New Lanark
strikes an interesting balance in the way it presents itself, from its ideological links to
workers’ welfare, socialism and the cooperative movement on the one hand, to
management psychology and corporate philanthropy on the other. The associations with
Robert Owen give New Lanark a unique dimension since interest in his ideas on industrial
relations, education, welfare, cooperation, citizenship and environment have resonance
with modern global problems. Indeed, Owen and New Lanark seem to transcend the
political divide for this very reason. But with that said, New Lanark presents a range of
issues about management and interpretation typical of industrial heritage everywhere.

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A further interesting spin-off from World Heritage is the World Heritage City, the earliest
designations including Kracow (Poland), Quito (Ecuador), Monastir (Tunisia) and
Stockholm (Sweden) in 1978. Subsequent designations have created a list of 242 (at the
time of writing), of which more than half are located in Europe and North America. Another
international organisation set up to service and promote these cities (independent of
UNESCO), the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), is based in Quebec,
Canada. Some of these cities are less familiar than others and it would be interesting to
know how they made it on to the list (Organization of World Heritage Cities, 2008). Bath
and Edinburgh, splendid Georgian creations, have Remarkable architectural heritages of
that period as well as histories of importance pre-dating the 1700s by many centuries.
Together they provide useful examples of heritage cities and the issues they raise.
2.5.2 Case study: World Heritage Cities in Bath and Old and New
Towns of Edinburgh
Bath has been a World Heritage site since 1987, recognised as a place of outstanding
universal value for its ensemble of architecture, town planning, landscape, archaeological
remains and its interesting social history as a place of resort. The history of the place
extends over 2000 years, and consequently Bath displays a fascinating array of remains
including archaeological evidence of pre-Roman use of the hot springs and the Roman
spa itself (Figure 8), medieval relics, the impressive Georgian city, civic buildings, parks,
gardens and streetscapes. More recent heritage includes Brunei’s Great Western Railway
with its station buildings and structures, all situated in a magnificent natural landscape.
The history of the city is presented and interpreted through a range of museums and
galleries devoted to specific aspects of the city’s past, including a Georgian house given
over to a museum celebrating the life and times of Jane Austen, one-time resident of the
city in its heyday as a place of fashionable resort. (Incongruously Austen had mixed
feelings about Bath, though it features prominently in several of her novels.)
Figure 8 The Roman Baths, City of Bath World Heritage City. Unknown photographer.
Photo: © Travelshots.com/Alamy.
Like Edinburgh, as a heritage city Bath is clearly a major cultural and economic asset, with
a population of 84,000 people: it is a significant regional centre for employment, shopping,
entertainment and education. As an international tourist destination, it attracts nearly 4
million visitors per annum, emphasising the close relationship between the heritage and
the success of the modern city. The spa, object of a multimillion pound re-development,
continues in use for health and leisure. Maintaining economic performance and vibrancy

2 World Heritage
in the community is seen by the local authorities as essential for the long-term protection
of the city’s heritage, which in its turn gives Bath a unique and much-celebrated character.
How this is to be sustained in the future is explained in the management plan, briefly
summarised as follows:
The Management Plan aims to provide a framework to conserve the cultural

heritage assets of the World Heritage Site of Bath. This wide remit includes
protection and enhancement of the architectural, archaeological, landscape
and natural assets and their urban and landscape settings, improving
understanding of the site, its interpretation and use as an educational resource,
and supporting the local community in its cultural, social and economic vitality.
The plan will outline the main issues that challenge the World Heritage Site and
the potential opportunities of that status. These issues will be addressed
through a series of objectives and actions, specifically intended to fulfil the main
aims of the plan. These are:
● Promote sustainable management of the World Heritage Site;

● Ensure that the unique qualities and outstanding universal values of the
World Heritage Site are understood and are sustained in the future;
● Sustain the outstanding universal values of the World Heritage Site whilst
maintaining and promoting Bath as a living and working city which benefits
from the status of the World Heritage Site;
● Improve physical access and interpretation, encouraging all people to
enjoy and understand the World Heritage Site;
● Improve public awareness of and interest and involvement in the heritage
of Bath, achieving a common local, national and international ownership of
World Heritage Site Management.
(Bath and North East Somerset Council, 2008)
This wide remit emphasises the problems of managing complex heritage sites –
particularly the balancing of conservation and development, which is especially
challenging in the urban context and evidently an ongoing issue in the city.
The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh site (Figure 9) faces similar dilemmas and its
website is enlightening in this regard. It seems there are many points of comparison, at
least in statements that recognise the challenges and threats, and set out policies to
preserve and enhance the site. The plan, like that of Bath, identifies key features, like the
unique setting overlooking the Firth of Forth, a dramatic castle perched above the city
centre, the contrasting architecture of the medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town,
and the history and heritage of Scotland’s ancient capital. Challenges and opportunities
abound, for example raising funds for restoration of buildings with diverse functions
throughout the designated area, the need to promote the use of traditional materials that
are becoming very hard to obtain, and the constant threats arising from inappropriate
development. Edinburgh World Heritage has also had to balance the needs of
conservation in the New Town with those of the Old Town, which before the eighteenth-
century expansion constituted the core of the city. There the Royal Mile links the Castle on
its rock with the Palace and Abbey of Holyrood at its foot, now also the location of the
Scottish Parliament. After many decades of decay preservation has been a priority for an
area that is a major tourist magnet in a tourist city. But the plan is not only about
preservation, it is also about promoting Edinburgh as a ‘thriving, dynamic, economically

2 World Heritage
successful city’. We might finally note that the plan is supported by a wide range of bodies
including the Scottish government, the City of Edinburgh Council, Historic Scotland and
various enterprise agencies. What happens in Edinburgh is of considerable consequence
politically, and developments there, particularly in terms of policy and the funding of
heritage projects, are watched with interest throughout Scotland (Edinburgh World
Heritage, 2008; Rodwell, 2007).
Figure 9 The Old Town of Edinburgh (left), linked by North Bridge to the eighteenth-
century planned New Town (right). Unknown photographer. Photo: © World Pictures/
Alamy.

Would Bath and Edinburgh ever be anything other than highly attractive places, since they
have been attracting visitors for several centuries in modern times and were significant
places from antiquity? What benefits has World Heritage status brought that would not
have been promoted in the usual course of events? Some injudicious developments,
notably shopping complexes, have been allowed in both places, though World Heritage
status has perhaps prevented the worst excesses. In reality it is very difficult to see how
such complex sites can be managed because of the competing interests of conservation
and development (Rodwell, 2007).
In both instances there are also interesting issues of interpretation of the ways in which
elite culture was promoted and sustained historically by the middle and upper classes at
the expense of the labouring classes in these cities, with large numbers employed in
construction, shop work, domestic and other services. In Bath’s interpretation the army of
servants found above and below stairs in the great resort era seems to be essentially
subverted in favour of elites. Edinburgh presents an interesting juxtaposition of the
formerly poverty-stricken Old Town tenements with the fine Georgian terraces of the New
Town to the north. And while much is made of the Scottish capital’s ancient history
(especially at the Castle and at Holyrood Palace), the Scottish Enlightenment, driven by
educated elites of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, is perhaps more
prominent, at least in the city’s institutions. Of course, in some ways, Edinburgh is an
exceptional case given its capital city status, long significant in its political, cultural and
economic standing, and even more so since the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
Is World Heritage City status driven by the tourist agenda? There is undoubtedly a sense
of competition among traditional tourist cities that feel if they do not achieve World
Heritage status they will be overlooked for somewhere else as a tourist destination. Both
these cities rely on tourism as a major contributor to their economies, so their status is
undoubtedly of great importance and value.
This brings us briefly to the role of World Heritage in wider social and economic
regeneration and in cultural tourism, itself an enormous topic with a substantial literature
(for example Smith and Robinson, 2006; Timothy and Boyd, 2003). It has been suggested

2 World Heritage
that World Heritage sites are perceived as the new ‘Seven Wonders of the World’
(multiplied many times over), and that listing substantially affects the attraction of sites as
tourist destinations and boosts local economies in the process. Here, as in many other
places in this book, it is evident that this is one of the most significant aspects of heritage
beyond its obvious function of restoration and conservation. It also helps to explain why
World Heritage is so highly political.
2.5.3 Case study: World Heritage and the economy in Tarragona,

Spain
Tarragona, south of Barcelona, has undergone a period of regeneration and repositioning
thanks to World Heritage listing (UNESCO, 2008c). The most significant urban centre in
Roman Iberia, it shows many layers of occupation through to the present, with modern
excavations revealing the most important Roman urban town planning and remains in
Spain (Figure 10). The excavated buildings, in varying states of repair and accessibility,
have been developed as spectacular cultural sites, now attracting large numbers of
visitors. Restoration is being undertaken as appropriate, extending in time from the pre-
Roman to a substantial medieval legacy, including the cathedral and other ancient
buildings overlooking the main World Heritage site. Much of the old city is surrounded by a
wall, often incorporating later buildings, and forming part of a heritage walk where the wall
can be readily and safely accessed. A range of a interpretations, including a remarkable
model housed in a restored medieval building near the cathedral, show the extent of the
Roman city, its harbour, shipyards and workshops, and its leisure facilities including
circus, chariot-racing track and other features. Excavations at a variety of stages and
locations can also be observed by visitors, while an older and very fine classical museum
packed with the discoveries of earlier excavations has been revitalised (Museu d’Història
de Tarragona, 2008; Museu Nacional Arquelògic de Tarragona, 2008).
Figure 10 Aqueduct in Tarragona World Heritage site. Photographed by Schütze/

Rodemann. Photo: © Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH/Alamy.
Tarragona, already a major tourist destination from the surrounding costas and resorts,
has enthusiastically re-invented itself as a cultural destination. Higher education has
expanded, leading to the growth of the local university, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, which
increasingly attracts large numbers of international students and conferences. The
Catalonian government and the Tarragona provincial authorities together with scholars
have played a major role in these initiatives. The reaction of locals, I can testify, is
generally favourable, since the spin-offs in new kinds of tourism are self-evident. However
regeneration has probably brought mixed benefits to some locals and the immigrant
community, since heritage projects absorb funds that might otherwise be deployed on
housing and other social facilities (a common problem elsewhere, and in Tarragona’s
case being partially addressed by its structure plan described briefly below). Nonetheless
World Heritage status has been a springboard for urban regeneration, perhaps not on the
scale of Barcelona to the north, but certainly impressive.

2 World Heritage
One of the more ambitious schemes arising is the proposal to restore the historical
seafront, connecting it again to much of the archaeological ensemble that constitutes the
World Heritage site. Beyond the Roman and medieval remains, visible and invisible, later
elements have left their mark on Tarragona: extensive urban development, the port, the
railway and industrial areas. While always of some importance to the local economy,
large-scale industrialisation did not occur until the 1960s and 1970s with the development
of a petrochemical complex linked to the port, which has become one of the main cargo-
handling ports in the Mediterranean. Since tourism is the other major industry in
Tarragona and its region, it is obvious that a tricky balance needs to be maintained
between these two key sectors of the economy. Local planners describe Tarragona as
being a city out of balance with itself, so the strategic objectives aim to rectify this using
heritage as one of the main platforms. According to the strategic objectives the historical
and archaeological heritage, rather than being seen in isolation, should be linked to
cultural landscapes and natural heritage in and beyond the city, creating an urban inter-
city archaeological route that links the different monuments and sites in a cohesive way.
Heritage protection can be enhanced by a detailed inventory identifying much that
remains hidden under layers of occupation since Roman times, as well as by classification
of monuments by age, accessibility and state of repair, and the histories of excavations
and finds. All of this presents enormous challenges when the structure plan proposes the
recovery of the seafront by either covering or re-routing the railway and removing other
buildings which all act as barriers between parts of the city and the coast.
There is no question that World Heritage status is contributing to a major repositioning of
tourism in Tarragona. As everywhere in Catalonia local and national pride is uppermost,
with a strong emphasis on the links to intangible heritage, notably language and culture; in
Tarragona this finds expression in a series of annual festivals famous throughout Spain
and beyond.

Tarragona is a good example of World Heritage driving both the repositioning of an urban
regional economy and the development of cultural-educational tourism. Unlike other
heritage cities such as Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast, Tarragona itself is a relatively new
industrial centre, but the same challenges of balancing different strategic objectives are
evident. At the same time it has substantial advantages in its location close to major
tourist areas, also dating from the mid-twentieth century, and also near Barcelona, which
began its revitalisation earlier and provided something of a model for Tarragona. Like
Edinburgh and Bath, it has many of the advantages of a smaller city, the cohesiveness of
its archaeological and historic sites in a spectacular location, plus the potential to link
these to other economic and cultural developments. At the time of writing a useful start
has been made and the strategic plan promises well for the future. As in the examples of
New Lanark, Bath and Edinburgh, local, regional and national politics have played a key
role both in gaining World Heritage status and in the exploitation of that cachet for the
future development of the economy.
2.6 The effect of World Heritage

Thanks to the work of UNESCO and its associated NGOs since the 1970s, World
Heritage is a well-established international concept administered by a formidable army of

2 World Heritage
technocrats. The rise of World Heritage has been responsible for the rescue and
conservation of numerous monuments to human values and endeavour and to large
areas of unique natural environment and landscape across the globe. It has promoted
heritages that have previously been neglected, for example rescuing cultures and
languages that would otherwise have disappeared. It has promoted heritage cities,
contributing to their regeneration in some cases, and, directly or indirectly, major world
sites for cultural tourism. World Heritage has considerable implications for cultural tourism
and increasingly for eco-tourism, which are major studies in their own right. There is no
question that UNESCO and the other heritage NGOs have dramatically raised the profile
of global heritage and are continuously seeking to redefine heritage beyond its previous
Eurocentred and essentially western viewpoints. This now assists less developed regions
of the world to raise their game in the World Heritage stakes.
The many positive aspects of World Heritage are perhaps countered by numerous issues
about its politics, protocols and impact. The opportunities to follow up on World Heritage
are enormous, through both virtual and actual visits to see what makes a site distinctive
enough to obtain such status, and to assess what has been achieved in its protection,
restoration, conservation, presentation and interpretation, how it impacts on the local/
regional community and economy, and many other generic questions arising from the
case studies cited here. Having studied this material, it should be possible to visit as more
than a tourist, and to deploy a critical eye and useful skills.
Having read the chapter, you should now have a fairly good understanding of the origins
of the World Heritage List and the functions of the various groups that are involved in
nominating and assessing sites for inclusion on the list.
Activity 2
15 minutes
Take some time to review what you have learnt about the World Heritage List and the
World Heritage Convention by looking at the full text of the World Heritage Convention.
What, briefly, are the main aims of the Convention? List them in your Learning Journal.
Discussion
The Convention and its programme aim to encourage countries to ratify and endorse
its objects to catalogue, name and conserve sites of cultural or natural importance to
the common heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain
funds from the World Heritage Fund. The Convention also aims to promote World
Heritage and develop appropriate educational programmes. What other details did you
pick out? Note them for future reference. I’m sure we could regard these aims as highly
laudable, but you might think fulfilment is potentially complex (and perhaps costly).
However, there are benefits to ratifying the Convention and to having sites listed on the
World Heritage List. We will explore some of these further in the next activity.

3 Case study
3 Case study
The Lake District is a rural area located in the north-west of England encompassing a
series of lakes and mountains (or ‘fells’) and containing England’s largest national park,
the Lake District National Park. The Lake District also contains Scafell Pike, the highest
mountain in England. The area is associated with the writings of a number of early
nineteenth-century Romantic poets, including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and Robert Southey. Wordsworth’s famous poem, ‘I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud’, was written about the daffodils growing on the shores of Lake Ullswater. The Lake
District has been a popular tourist destination since the late eighteenth century, and
remains a popular place for recreation as well as nature conservation. Its complex layers
of heritage value are comprised of its literary associations, its natural beauty, its
recreational values and its geographical, ecological and biological diversity. There are
also specific ‘industrial heritage’ trails in parts of the Lake District that relate to slate and
iron mining. Indeed, its industrial heritage is something of a surprise to some visitors.
When this audio piece was recorded, the Lake District was on the Tentative World
Heritage List (it was added to the tentative list in 1997). Those involved in the bid were in
the process of trying to prove to UNESCO that the Lake District meets certain criteria
which demonstrate its outstanding universal values. If successful, it will achieve the status
of World Heritage site in 2012, in which case it would become one of the largest and most
complex World Heritage sites and the first ‘cultural landscape‘ World Heritage site in
England.
Listen to ‘Lake District 1’ (duration 14 minutes), linked below. Pay particular attention to
the ways in which each of the contributors defines the significance of the Lake District,
and what they suggest the benefits of World Heritage listing might be for the Lake District.
You might like to take a look at the website of the Lake District World Heritage Project for
an update on where the World Heritage bid is up to now, and to see some images of the
area. Some images of the Lake District landscape are available below.
Audio content is not available in this format.

Lake District 1
Figure 11 The Lake District. Photographed by Jon Arnold. Photo: © Jon Arnold Images
Ltd/Alamy. [view enlarged image]

3 Case study
Figure 12 Lake Windermere, looking north. Photographed by Paul Broadbent. Photo: ©

Paul Broadbent/Alamy. [view enlarged image]
3.1 The Lake District as World Heritage

Clearly the process of raising a World Heritage nomination is both expensive and time
consuming. However, both your course book reading and the voices of those involved in
the Lake District nomination mention the benefits for countries ratifying the World Heritage
Convention, and for those sites themselves that are listed on the World Heritage List.
Activity 3
15 minutes
Read the Benefits of Ratification on the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website.
Reviewing this, what are the key benefits for countries arising from ratification of the
World Heritage Convention? And what particular benefits do you see as having
particular relevance for the Lake District World Heritage nomination?
Discussion
The overarching benefit of World Heritage listing, as far as I can see, is being part of a
global community dedicated to conserving international cultural and natural heritage.
The main rewards I can see are:
● sharing a commitment to a heritage legacy

● raising awareness about preservation in localities and regions
● access to funding via the World Heritage Centre, especially for threatened sites
(they produce a list of threatened World Heritage sites, which you might like to
take a look at in your revision time)
● development of management plans for sites and training in heritage conservation
and promotion
● the prestige of inscription of national sites
● economic development, especially sustainable (cultural and environmental)
tourism.
Once more reflecting UN principles, there is a strong element of international

cooperation and goodwill reflected here, plus the obvious influence of World Heritage
accolade(s) on funding, investment and, ultimately, the potential contribution to the
economy through tourism.
The particular benefits that were mentioned by the contributors to ‘Lake District 1’
were:
● ‘international recognition’ of the special qualities of the place

● the promotion of more environmentally aware tourism

3 Case study
● a recognition of the inter-connection between people and the landscape

● the benefits that would accompany the management of the Lake District as a
World Heritage site.

4 Conclusion
4 Conclusion
You should now have a clear understanding of the history of the World Heritage
Convention and the World Heritage List, and the selection criteria that are used to justify
the inclusion of items on the list. You have also begun to take a critical approach to the
concept of World Heritage by undertaking a close critical reading of the Venice Charter,
World Heritage Convention, and the World Heritage Criteria for Selection.
I hope that several linked concepts have become clear to you. Heritage is not, as many
believe, so much about the past as it is about the present. Heritage looks to the past, but it
is something that is produced in the present for a particular purpose within human groups
and societies. Following on from this idea is the concept that heritage is a form of
‘representation’, which has the potential both to include and exclude certain members of
society. When we talk about heritage as a form of representation, we refer to the way in
which heritage objects, places and practices come to ‘stand for’ something else, whether
that be an idealised sense of nationhood and its citizens, an ethnic group, or a particular
set of histories and ideas about the past. For this reason, heritage is also about the power
to control the past and to produce it in the present. In western societies, heritage is
connected with a series of authorised heritage discourses (AHDs), which are tied up in the
various official texts and charters by which heritage is managed.

Keep on learning
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Glossary
criteria

Acknowledgements
in heritage terms, a list of conditions that must be met prior to listing on a statutory
heritage register, such as the World Heritage List
cultural heritage
object, place or practice of heritage which is of human origin. The term is often used by
way of contrast with natural heritage
cultural landscape
humanly modified landscape believed to be of importance due to the interplay of
natural and cultural influences. A distinct category of cultural landscape was
recognised in the revisions to the World Heritage Convention in 1992
ethnographic
scientific description of human groups (economy, society, culture), foundation method
of anthropology as the comparative study of human groups
inscription
the identification and description of a heritage object, place or practice in order to
confer legal protection. Sometimes the term ‘designation’ is used
natural heritage
plants, animals, landscape features and biological and geological processes which are
not humanly modified. The term is most often used in opposition to cultural heritage
nomination
the process by which places are put forward for listing on a heritage register
restoration
in heritage parlance, returning something to an earlier condition, sometimes involving
the removal of later additions or alterations and the replacement of lost elements
significance
in heritage terms, the relative importance of one heritage object, place or practice when
compared with another
World Heritage Convention
The Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage,
adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972, which
established the World Heritage List and the process for listing World Heritage sites
World Heritage List
list of places considered by the World Heritage Committee to have outstanding
universal value. The list was established by the 1972 World Heritage Convention
World heritage sites
places listed on the World Heritage List
Acknowledgements
This course was written by Ian Donnachie and Dr Rodney Harrison.
This free course is an adapted extract from the course AD218 Understanding global
heritage, which is currently out of presentation
Course image: Dennis Jarvis in Flickr made available under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.

Acknowledgements
Figure 1: The Rialto Bridge, Venice. Unknown photographer. Photo: © Siwiak Travel/
Alamy.
Figure 2: Sandstone head of Ramses II being moved to be reassembled at the new site of
Abu Simbel, 1966. Photographed by Terrence Spencer. Photo: © Terrence Spencer/Time
and Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Figure 3: Fossil at Undercliff, Lyme Regis, part of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World
Heritage site. Photographed by David Noble. Photo: © David Noble Photography/Alamy.
Figure 4: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park World Heritage site, central Australia.
Photographed by David Ball. Photo: © David Ball/Alamy.
Figure 5: The cathedral, Santiago de Compostela. Photographed by David A. Barnes.
Photo: © David A. Barnes/Alamy. The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is a massive
exercise in various architectural styles and forms the focus of the World Heritage site.
Figure 6: New Lanark World Heritage site, showing the former Owen House (foreground)
with the workers’ housing beyond. Photographed by Findlay. Photo: © Findlay/Alamy.
Figure 7: New Lanark World Heritage site, showing (from the left) the former cotton mills,
the rear elevation of Owen’s Institute, and Owen’s School for Children. Unknown
photographer. Photo: © South West Images Scotland/ Alamy.
Figure 8: The Roman Baths, City of Bath World Heritage City. Unknown photographer.
Photo: © Travelshots.com/Alamy.
Figure 9: The Old Town of Edinburgh (left), linked by North Bridge to the eighteenth-
century planned New Town (right). Unknown photographer. Photo: © World Pictures/
Alamy.
Figure 10: Aqueduct in Tarragona World Heritage site. Photographed by Schütze/
Rodemann. Photo: © Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH/Alamy.
Figure 11: The Lake District. Photographed by Jon Arnold. Photo: © Jon Arnold Images
Ltd/Alamy.
Figure 12: Lake Windermere, looking north. Photographed by Paul Broadbent. Photo: ©
Paul Broadbent/Alamy.
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World Heritage

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1 Introducing World Heritage

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2.1 An overview of World Heritage

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implications of World Heritage strategies for designation, conservation, regeneration,

2.2 The development of World Heritage

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Presented to a UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm these proposals

● defines the cultural and natural heritage

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2.3 Creating a World Heritage site

2.3.2 Selection criteria

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2.3.3 Global representation

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Table 1 Types of site by region (UNESCO)

(Source: data from UNESCO, 2009)

2.3.4 A wider vision?

The objectives of the Global Strategy

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represented categories of sites and improve geographical coverage, the World

2.4 Types of heritage

2.4.1 Natural heritage: large and small

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2.4.2 Cultural landscapes

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2.4.3 Intangible heritage

The ICH is traditional and living at the same time.

● oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of the

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2.4.4 Other heritage categories

Figure 5 The cathedral, Santiago de Compostela. Photographed by David A. Barnes.

2.5 Case studies

2.5.1 Case study: Industrial heritage in New Lanark, Scotland

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Reflecting on the case study

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The Management Plan aims to provide a framework to conserve the cultural

● Promote sustainable management of the World Heritage Site;

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Reflecting on the case study

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2.5.3 Case study: World Heritage and the economy in Tarragona,

Figure 10 Aqueduct in Tarragona World Heritage site. Photographed by Schütze/

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