UK’s Liverpool loses UNESCO World Heritage status

Liverpool has been stripped of its World Heritage status after a UN committee found developments threatened the value of the city’s waterfront.

Liverpool, UK | Xinhua | The World Heritage Committee on Wednesday decided to delete “Liverpool — Maritime Mercantile City” in the United Kingdom (UK) from the World Heritage List “due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property.”

Liverpool was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004 and on the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2012 following concerns about the proposed development of Liverpool Waters.

“The project has since gone ahead along with other developments both inside the site and in its buffer zone. The Committee considers that these constructions are detrimental to the site’s authenticity and integrity,” said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) body.

“Any deletion from the World Heritage List is a loss to the international community and to the internationally shared values and commitments under the World Heritage Convention,” said the committee, during its 44th session held in Fuzhou, capital of east China’s Fujian province and online.

Liverpool’s historic centre and docklands were inscribed for bearing witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. The site also illustrated pioneering developments in modern dock technology, transport systems and port management.

After the Elbe Valley in Dresden, Germany and the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, Liverpool is the third property to lose its World Heritage status.

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Xinhua