(NEW YORK) — The city of Liverpool, England was stripped of its World Heritage status on Wednesday, after a U.N. committee determined that the recent construction has been detrimental to its value.
Liverpool was inscribed on the United Nations’ Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List in 2004 for its value as a Maritime Mercantile City. The committee listed it as “in danger” in 2012, over concerns about development within the city.
? BREAKING
World Heritage Committee deletes Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City from UNESCO’s #WorldHeritage List – more information soon.https://t.co/8A7OGJynp8 #44WHC pic.twitter.com/t6vVrfAjDW
— UNESCO ?️ #Education #Sciences #Culture ??? (@UNESCO) July 21, 2021
UNESCO says 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.” They also cited major developments in dock technology, transportation, and port management that were made in Liverpool.
But UNESCO says the Liverpool Waters development project at the city’s north docks, as well as a new soccer stadium being built for the club team Everton F.C., have contributed to an “irreversible loss of attributes.”
#Liverpool – a great city not defined by labels. pic.twitter.com/BLs8B7IiWl
— Liverpool City Council (@lpoolcouncil) July 21, 2021
Liverpool is just the third property to lose World Heritage status, according to the U.N. The prior sites to lose that status are the Elbe Valley in Dresden, Germany and the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman.
Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson called the decision “the wrong call,” insisting that her city “has never looked better.”
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
