33rd World Heritage Committee
The 33rd World Heritage Committee was held in Seville, Spain from June 22 to 30. Discussions were held every day in temperatures of over 40ºC until 23:00 at an exhibition hall where sometimes wild birds wandered into and flew about. From Japan, participants included members of related government ministries and research organizations as well as local officials aiming to have their local heritage registered in the World Heritage List: Two members including myself attended from our Institute.
Thirteen heritage sites (2 natural and 11 cultural) were registered in the World Heritage List, and one heritage site was deleted, so the list now includes 890 heritage sites. A high regard for human-rights related heritage was seen, as seen in the registration of heritage sites related to the slave trade. Although the final decision was made by information survey, in terms of international collaboration it seemed that nominating multiple heritage sites spanning multiple countries as one heritage site was recommended, as seen in the works of Le Corbusier, including those in the National Museum of Western Art.
It was also decided to remove the Dresden Elbe Valley from the list, because immediately after it was registered, a bridge crossing the valley was planned that endangered world heritage. The bridge was not cancelled, and no specific alternative plan was proposed from Germany. This was the second time a site was deleted the list, but the first time such deletion went against the wishes of the site’s home country.
Some of the discussions scheduled for this meeting were postponed to next year due to the numerous discussions about secret voting and repetitive speeches, and it seemed that there were problems in the debate proceedings. We again recognized the importance of diplomacy in the registration of world heritage through seeing changes in discussion content a conflict between two countries that have more wide-reaching issues.