World Heritage City Loses Status

Last week, Liverpool was removed from the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The decision was made by the UNESCO Committee, after a meeting in Fuzhou, China where the vote was cast.

Concerns were raised around Liverpool’s World Heritage status when an announcement was made about a $7 billion regeneration project for the waterfront. The project includes building luxury apartments and skyscrapers that could endanger the historical architecture and skyline.

According to “The New York Times,” Liverpool received its World Heritage status in 2004 due to its history of being the world’s trading center in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Liverpool controlled 40 percent of the slave trade in the 18th century before the British slave trade was abolished in 1807 and 40 percent of all global trade passed through the ports in the early 19th century. This history is reflected in Liverpool's architecture on the waterfront. 

The committee also voted to add nine new cities to the list which includes:

• Cordouan Lighthouse in France, 
• Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, 
• Telangana in India, 
• Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt in Germany, 
• Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles in Italy, 
• Paseo del Prado 
•  Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences in Spain,
• Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, 
• The Great Spa Towns of Europe which are located in Austria, Belgium, 
• Czechia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Trans-Iranian Railway in Iran, and Ḥimā Cultural Area in Saudia Arabia.

Article written by Leeannah McNew on behalf of Global Philadelphia Association