Decision 38 COM 7B.10

Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa (China) (C 707ter)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 7B.65 and 37 COM 7B.103 adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011) and 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) sessions respectively,
2. Notes with concern the information provided by the State Party concerning reports of development issues,
3. Regrets that the State Party has not sent to the World Heritage Centre details of the two new commercial shopping malls, ancillary car parking and drainage and road works in advance of commencement of development as requested in Decision 37 COM 7B.103 and in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines ;
4. Notes the State Party’s assessment of the impact of the developments undertaken in response to the World Heritage Centre’s requests for information and also regrets that this assessment seems only to have been undertaken retrospectively with no evidence of Heritage Impact Assessments having been undertaken;
5. Requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM reactive monitoring mission to the property to consider the new development, the demolition of structures and new road and drainage work, in order to assess their impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property; and also to review the management system for the property, progress with the revision of the Conservation Master Plan and conservation plans for the three component parts of the property, and ways to harmonise these with the Lhasa Urban Development Plan as per Decision 35 COM 7B.65;
6. Notes with appreciation the copy of the Regulation on Preservation of the Old Town of Lhasa provided by the State Party (Appendix 2 in the State of conservation report), but also requests that copies of the revised Conservation Master Plan and Conservation Plans for the three component parts, with syntheses in English, be submitted to the World Heritage Centre, for review by the Advisory Bodies, before their finalisation, as requested by Decision 35 COM 7B.65;
7. Further requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.