Vienna Remains on UNESCO Red List: World Heritage Site Still Endangered
The historic center of Vienna remains on UNESCO's Red List of endangered world heritage sites. This decision was made on Wednesday at the ongoing meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris, where the draft decision was adopted without amendments or discussion by collective decision.
The historic center of Vienna remains on UNESCO's Red List of endangered world heritage sites. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Bwag / CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Vienna was added to the Red List back in 2017. The main reason for the ongoing threat is the controversial Heumarkt project with its planned high-rise towers, whose height, originally set at 74 meters and later reduced to 44 meters, still exceeds the 43 meters recommended by UNESCO. The organization fears that the project could significantly impair the cityscape and diminish the “exceptional universal value” of the site. In addition to the Heumarkt project, UNESCO experts are also concerned about other construction projects, including attic conversions, the underground visitor center in front of the Upper Belvedere, and new subway stations.
Of the more than 1,200 listed World Heritage Sites, 250 are currently being reviewed for potential threats. Most recently, 56 sites were listed as threatened, half of which were due to armed conflicts, including in the Middle East. The listing on the Red List is intended to catalyze to mobilize international support to secure the affected sites.
Political reactions to the situation
UNESCO's decision immediately sparked sharp criticism from opposition parties in Vienna, as reported by ORF. Markus Figl, acting chairman of the Vienna People's Party (ÖVP), criticized in a press release that the city government had failed to present an internationally acceptable project. “Instead of taking responsibility, the decision is simply being sat out – at the expense of our World Heritage city,” Figl said.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) also did not hold back with its criticism. The second president of the state parliament, Toni Mahdalik, and cultural spokesman Lukas Brucker criticized that “despite years of warnings, the SPÖ and NEOS have failed to take the necessary steps to secure the World Heritage Site in the long term. Instead, speculative projects are being pushed forward that endanger the unique cityscape.”
Austria has a total of twelve World Heritage Sites on the UNESCO list, including the historic center of Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens, the historic center of the city of Salzburg, the Semmering Railway, and the Wachau region.