Preserving the heritage of humanity? Obtaining world heritage status and the impacts of listing Aa, Bart J.M. van der

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1 University of Groningen Preserving the heritage of humanity? Obtaining world heritage status and the impacts of listing Aa, Bart J.M. van der IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2005 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Aa, B. J. M. V. D. (2005). Preserving the heritage of humanity? Obtaining world heritage status and the impacts of listing s.n. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date:

2 Preserving the heritage of humanity? Obtaining world heritage status and the impacts of listing Bart J.M. van der Aa

3 The work in this thesis has been carried out at the faculty of spatial sciences at the University of Groningen and was supported by grant number from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). ISBN: English correction Photos Printing Copyright Gina Rozario Bart J.M. van der Aa Febodruk b.v. Enschede Bart J.M. van der Aa All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by print or photoprint, microfilm or any other means, without written permission by the publisher.

in de Ruimtelijke Wetenschappen aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. F.

4 Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Preserving the heritage of humanity? Obtaining world heritage status and the impacts of listing Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Ruimtelijke Wetenschappen aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. F. Zwarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 26 mei 2005 om uur door Bart Johannes Maria van der Aa geboren op 10 november 1974 te Ootmarsum

5 Promotores: Copromotor: Prof. dr. P.P.P. Huigen Prof. dr. G.J. Ashworth dr. P.D. Groote Beoordelingscommissie: Prof. dr. P. Howard Prof. dr. H. Voogd Prof. dr. A. van der Woud

6 Table of contents List of figures iv List of tables v List of boxes vi List of photos vii List of abbreviations viii Preface ix Chapter 1 Conceptualising world heritage Background of the world heritage convention There is no world heritage World heritage exists The aim of the world heritage convention The selection criteria Dimensions of valuating heritage The criterion of outstanding universal value World heritage listings Fulfilled natural and cultural criteria Fame of listed world heritage sites World heritage convention is much celebrated Expectations about the world heritage convention Unknown impacts of a world heritage listing Research questions Research design Structure of the thesis...18 Chapter 2 Practising world heritage The nomination process Rejections, re-nominations and their reasons Selection of world heritage sites largely nationally determined Countries must be willing to participate Countries must be willing to nominate sites Countries must be able to nominate sites High-quality sites may not be nominated...26 i

7 2.3 Dynamics of the world heritage list Kind of world heritage sites Spatial distribution of world heritage Why has Europe so many world heritage sites? Factors influencing the number of world heritage sites Cultural productions per region History as indicator for cultural production Failure of the global strategy Conducting country studies Scale level of case studies Case study methodology Criteria for selecting case studies Executing and analysing case studies...41 Chapter 3 Nominating world heritage sites Different national selection approaches Trajectory one Central, highlighting one historical core Trajectory two Central, highlighting various histories Trajectory three Decentralised, highlighting various histories Patterns in world heritage nominations Pattern one Different approaches over time Pattern two Different attitudes at natural and cultural sites Concluding remarks...68 Chapter 4 Deconstructing world heritage site selection Broad selection criteria What scale level? Which arguments? Factors other than the site s quality Listen to the World Heritage Committee s preferences Selecting the easiest sites Available heritage infrastructure Nominating sites that can be controlled Favourable local political circumstances Concluding remarks...86 Chapter 5 Preserving world heritage Instruments for better preservation of world heritage sites Does world heritage designation help to preserve sites? Dealing with threats and issues Legal protection Management plans and management bodies Financial support The list of world heritage in danger Concluding remarks ii

8 Chapter 6 Touring world heritage World heritage sites as leading tourist attractions Visitors at world heritage sites Visitor numbers Visitor patterns Factors influencing the number of visitors to world heritage sites Tourist routes Promotion Media attention Visitor management at world heritage sites Unchanging visitor management Adapting the physical environment for tourism purposes Concluding remarks Chapter 7 Meanings of world heritage Research questions Are the best heritage sites selected? Does selection raise the level of preservation? Does tourism endanger the site after selection? Is the heritage of humanity better preserved? Benefits for various actors UNESCO Countries World heritage sites Future strategies for the world heritage convention Further research Summary Samenvatting Appendix 1 List of interviewed organisations Appendix 2 World heritage participants Appendix 3 World Heritage Committee Appendix 4 World heritage site nominations List of references Place name index iii

9 List of figures Figure 1-1: Spatial distribution of world heritage sites...11 Figure 1-2: Average number of met criteria, Figure 1-3: Number of designated sites per year, Figure 1-4: An outline of the research Figure 2-1: Schematic overview of the nomination process for the world heritage list Figure 2-2: Share of listed world heritage sites per attempt, per kind and continent Figure 2-3: The number of listed world heritage sites in three categories, Figure 2-4: Share of world heritage sites on world heritage posters and list Figure 2-5: Year-end proportion of listed sites on each continent Figure 2-6: Dates when listed cultural world heritage sites were built Figure 2-7: Share of rejected and listed sites per continent, Figure 2-8: Average year of construction of listed world heritage sites according to year of listing, three-year average...34 Figure 2-9: Continents share of world heritage sites and attention given in two history books...36 Figure 2-10: Representation of different continents in Timelines, per period 37 Figure 3-1: World heritage sites in Poland...44 Figure 3-2: Organisations involved in nominating world heritage sites in the Netherlands Figure 3-3: World heritage sites in the Netherlands...48 Figure 3-4: Organisations involved in nominating world heritage sites in Mexico Figure 3-5: World heritage sites in Mexico...50 Figure 3-6: World heritage sites in the United States of America...54 Figure 3-7: World heritage sites in Spain...56 Figure 3-8: World heritage sites in the United Kingdom...60 Figure 4-1: Share of listed sites belonging to World Heritage Committee member countries...81 Figure 5-1: Spatial distribution of world heritage sites in danger, Figure 5-2: Four world heritage instruments and five fields of action to preserve sites...90 Figure 6-1: Number of visitors at natural and cultural world heritage sites in the United States of America Figure 6-2: Average number of visitors at four Welsh world heritage castles and fourteen other Welsh castles, Figure 6-3: World heritage labels: tours (left) and convention (right) 116 iv

10 List of tables Table 2-1: Overview of countries that qualify as case studies Table 3-1: Reasons at the local level to agree with or to initiate a world heritage nomination for centrally and non-centrally nominated sites...64 Table 3-2: Location of world heritage sites in case countries Table 3-3: Reasons at the local level to agree with or to initiate a world heritage nomination for cultural and natural sites Table 4-1: Highest scale-level of comparative analysis of (tentatively) listed sites...70 Table 4-2: Presence of heritage NGOs and world heritage sites in countries (panel A) and the average number of particular kinds of world heritage sites (panel B) Table 5-1: Multi-use and single-use world heritage sites facing conflicting aims...87 Table 5-2: Sources of income for the World Heritage Fund, Table 5-3: Scale level of support for world heritage sites to deal with threats and issues at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 5-4: Existence of management plans at sites listed before and after Table 5-5: Scale level of financial support for centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 6-1: Change in visitor numbers as a result of world heritage listing at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 6-2: Change in visitor numbers as a result of world heritage listing at cultural and natural sites Table 6-3: Dominant type of visitor as a result of world heritage listing in the case countries Table 6-4: Types of visitors as a result of world heritage listing at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 6-5: Change in media attention as a result of world heritage listing at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 6-6: Dominant scale level of increasing media attention as a result of world heritage listing at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites Table 6-7: Increase in visitor facilities after a world heritage listing at centrally and non-centrally nominated sites v

11 List of boxes Box 1-1: Modifications to cultural and natural world heritage criteria since Box 2-1: Representations of world heritage sites on UNESCO s world heritage poster...29 Box 2-2: History books as indicator for the number of world heritage sites...36 Box 3-1: The composition of national selection committees Box 4-1: The listing of the first twelve world heritage sites in Box 4-2: Nomination of Aranjuez cultural landscape...75 Box 5-1: Inadequate national protection of cultural landscapes Box 5-2: Preserving world heritage sites in the United States of America Box 5-3: Reactionary approach of the list of world heritage in danger Box 6-1: Worldheritagetours.com Box 6-2: Usage of the world heritage label Box 6-3: Representation of world heritage sites and status in the Lonely Planet Box 6-4: Vandalism of world heritage symbols vi

12 List of photos Photo 1-1: Two geological sites: Grand Canyon and Dorset and East Devon Coast....8 Photo 3-1: The world heritage nomination of the Auschwitz concentration camp was less contested than the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork in communist Poland...46 Photo 3-2: The Dutch battle against water : Wouda pumping station and Kinderdijk Photo 3-3: Pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial heritage in Mexico: Chichén- Itzá, Puebla, and the home study museum of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Photo 3-4: American cultural world heritage sites show pre-colonial and colonial sites: Mesa Verde and Monticello...53 Photo 3-5: United Kingdom s nominations are spread throughout the country: Giant s Causeway, Fountains Abbey, Blenheim Palace and Canterbury Cathedral...59 Photo 4-1: Contested world heritage sites: Zacatecas s cathedral façade and Baeza...72 Photo 4-2: Flag at Wieliczka, celebrating the inscription of Kraków and Wieliczka on the first world heritage list...73 Photo 4-3: Palace and surrounding village of Aranjuez, including town hall...75 Photo 4-4: World heritage sites are often nationally owned: Auschwitz, Palenque, Aranjuez and Yellowstone Photo 5-1: Multi-use world heritage sites: Ironbridge Gorge and Cahokia Mounds Photo 5-2: Streetscape of two Mexican world heritage cities: Morelia and Zacatecas. 92 Photo 5-3: No national support at world heritage sites: Xochimilco and Malbork...93 Photo 5-4: Backlog and decay in the Polish world heritage city of Zamość Photo 5-5: The renovation of buildings in historic cities is largely left to the owners: Toruń and Aranjuez Photo 5-6: Local developments at world heritage sites: Ávila and Auschwitz. 105 Photo 6-1: Varying visitor pressure: Everglades and Kalwarija Zebrzydowska Photo 6-2: Using the status: Xochimilco, Mammoth cave, Atapuerca, and Aranjuez.118 Photo 6-3: Provision of visitor facilities at world heritage sites: Parking facilities at Aranjuez and Kalwarija Zebrzydowska Photo 6-4: Renovation in Lugo has to precede new tourism developments Photo 6-5: World heritage as a means of claiming space: Tàrraco Photo 6-6: Graffiti on world heritage symbols: Guanajuato, Morelia and Ávila Photo 7-1: World heritage sites as identity carriers for states and streets: Grand Canyon and Wouda steam pumping station vii

Signs of the Shoah: The Hollandsche Schouwburg as a site of memory Duindam, D.A.

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Signs of the Shoah: The Hollandsche Schouwburg as a site of memory Duindam, D.A. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Duindam, D. A. (2016).