Decision 43 COM 7B.40

Kasbah of Algiers (Algeria) (C 565)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B,
2. Recalling Decision 41 COM 7B.73, adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017),
3. Takes note of the activities implemented by the State Party to improve the management and state of conservation of the property, but expresses its deep concern about the advanced degradation of twenty-four new buildings within the property;
4. Commends the State Party for the results of the preventive excavations carried out as part of the Place des Martyrs metro station project, aimed at reconciling the imperatives of urban development with the need to preserve the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, and the museum activities that were presented;
5. Encourages the State Party to seek mechanisms and opportunities to integrate the management plan into the city master plan to address the management and conservation of the property in an integrated and coordinated manner, and in line with the approach focused on the Recommendation concerning the Historic Urban Landscape (2011), in order to define a comprehensive framework to support the effective implementation of the Permanent Plan for the Protection, Safeguarding and Valorisation of the Safeguarded Sector (PPSMVSS) and the conduct of all other actions to improve the state of conservation of the property;
6. Also takes note of the international experts meeting on the safeguarding of the Kasbah held in January 2018, and urges the State Party to implement all the recommendations adopted at this meeting, and in particular:
   1. Create a single structure that includes all relevant institutions and whose actions could be defined by a steering committee which centralizes information and has decision-making power and autonomy. This would enable multisectoral planning of urban development integrating heritage conservation issues, to ensure that all urban planning integrates the Kasbah throughout the city of Algiers. It would also ensure dialogue among planners, and study the impact of their projects on the OUV of the property before undertaking them,
   2. Encourage, promote and assist in the creation of projects that can maintain the OUV of the property while promoting economic and social development, in particular through the creation of jobs and businesses to enrich the traditional fabric in order to create expanding, diversified and inclusive aggregations,
   3. Ensure and improve the integration of academics, members of civil society, skilled workers and other actors deemed indispensable in safeguarding actions, with an important component devoted to training;
7. Reminds the State Party of the need to inform the Committee, through the Secretariat, of its intention to undertake or authorize major restorations or new constructions that could alter the OUV of the property, before making decisions that could be difficult to reverse, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and to keep it informed of any new development planned on the property, accompanied by a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), in particular following the partnership agreements concluded by the Wilaya of Algiers;
8. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above-mentioned points, as well as the final report on the preventive excavation operation, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in 2021.