Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso

• Emergency situation due to the massive fire of April 2014 (issue resolved)
• Interventions planned at the port, such as the Barón Port and the Prat Dock, as well as for touristic facilities and real estate projects
• Fragmentation of competencies and mandates by sectors and by different levels of government, as well as by the different types of specific protection and use of different areas, which does not allow for the management of the property with respect to its Outstanding Universal Value and within a broader perspective
• Commercial development
• Legal framework
• Management systems/ management plan
• Marine transport infrastructure

On 3 December 2018, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, an executive summary of which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/959, and presents the following:

• Important advances have been made in the recuperation of historic elevators and a number of buildings and public spaces within the property;
• Coordination meetings of a working group composed by the National Monuments Council (CMN), Directorate for Libraries, Archives and Museums (DIBAM) and Municipal services have started in 2017 and acknowledged the need of creating a management entity for the property and strengthening coordination among planning instruments, such as the Plan de Desarrollo Comunal, the Plan Regulador Comunal (PRC), and the Intervention Rules for Valparaíso;
• The implementation of the National Urban Development Policy (UDP) continues to be overseen by the Urban Development Council, which established a working group to provide inputs towards the integration of heritage into urban development and presented the study Proposals for an Integral Model for the Conservation of Urban Heritage;
• As transitionary measures to remedy management weaknesses, a technical cooperation project with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was approved and will identify a management model for the property and its buffer zone. A taskforce has started for its implementation and a study on the application of the 2011 Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Recommendation was undertaken;
• The HUL approach is being applied by the Municipality in the process of modifying the Plan Regulador Comunal (PRC), which is currently focusing on zones outside the property. Further modifications are to come;
• The commercial centre at Puerto Baron will not be implemented due to legal issues. Instead, a new project, “Paseo del Mar”, is being launched to improve access from the city to the coastal area, with parks, sport facilities, commerce, a convention centre, a cruise terminal, and tourism infrastructure. The elevated Via España will be demolished and the Bodegas Simon Bolivar will be restored for commercial purposes;
• The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Terminal 2 (TCVAL), which included a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), was concluded and approved. It identified a number of negative impacts that will be mitigated and compensated for, so that the project will have a positive impact within and outside the property and its buffer zone;
• In order to improve vehicular access to the port and to reduce traffic congestion, works will be undertaken at the level of Terminal 1. Likewise, a viaduct and a tunnel will be constructed in Sector Muelle Prat to access Terminal 2;
• The Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage was formally established in March 2018. DIBAM was transformed into the National Service of Cultural Heritage, responsible for tangible and intangible heritage. The Centro Nacional de Sitios del Patrimonio Mundial forms part of this Service. The National Cultural Policy 2017-2022 requires a review of the legislation in order to respond to international conventions and achieve coordination among the various services involved;
• The 2017 National Regulations for Typical Zones (protected areas established under the 1972 Law for National Monuments) define that it is the responsibility of the CMN to establish norms for intervention. A pilot study to develop such norms for Barrio Puerto, a small area in the Typical Zone of Valparaíso, was completed and approved by CMN in August 2018;
• A social programme for Chilean World Heritage properties has been launched and will fund technical assistance to rehabilitate the Tassara building for social housing, among other projects.

The State Party should be commended for its substantive report that addresses all of the Committee’s decisions and recommendations, as well as the factors affecting the property identified in earlier reports and decisions.

It is noted that the State Party has introduced transitionary mechanisms for the management and conservation of the property, and that the implementation of the UDP is progressing. It may be expected that the technical cooperation project with the IDB will result in a management model that will be appropriate for Valparaíso. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to submit the results of this cooperation project as soon as they become available for assessment by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.

The incorporation of the HUL approach in the IDB technical cooperation project and in the process of modifying the Plan Regulador Comunal is noted.  It is also noted that the ICOMOS’ Guidelines on HIAs for cultural World Heritage properties in the assessments were applied for the Terminal 2 project. The identified negative impacts of the project are accurate and the mitigation and compensation proposals are considered realistic and feasible, and it may be expected that such proposals will contribute to the conservation of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).

The annulation of the Puerto Baron project and the prioritization of the new proposal “Paseo del Mar” is a promising shift in the development approach for the coastal zone, emphasizing the revitalization and public access to the area. This change of approach is very much welcomed. The State Party should be invited to submit the proposals for the “Paseo del Mar” project, and those related to the vehicular access to Terminals 1 and 2, in more detail, together with an assessment of their impact on the property and its buffer zone, once they become available, for review by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.