The port of Liverpool is no longer Unesco heritage: "Too many interventions, it has lost authenticity"

2021-07-21T16:49:02.329Z

"Irreversible" are the signs that years of urban and architectural interventions have left on the port of Liverpool, to the point of burying under layers of development - or presumed such - those Victorian docks fundamental for the growth of the British Empire in the nineteenth century, which in 2004 had earned the English city, and its port specifically, the rank of World Heritage Site with the Unesco seal. Like Stonehenge, but also the Taj Mahal and the pyramids in Egypt. Seventeen years later, the UN agency takes a step back, indeed, completely overturns its judgment and revokes the title. An almost unprecedented decision - taken only in two other cases - which leaves local administrators dismayed, makes screams of injustice and also fuels local political controversies and rivalries.But what has happened since 2004 that was so incisive that it made such a sensational decision? Two indications above all: the Liverpool Waters Project, a £ 5.5 million redevelopment project approved in 2013 which, according to UNESCO, leaves a too deep scar on the waterfront, and the new Everton stadium, a mega structure that with a capacity of 52 thousand spectators risks completely changing the face of the entire area, as well as massively modifying its use. Lapidary, however, the judgment: "irreversible loss of authenticity". The decision was taken after a secret vote by the special Unesco commission under the Chinese presidency. In announcing the verdict, the chairman of the commission said that out of the 20 votes cast,13 were in favor of the removal of Liverpool from the list, five against and two were considered invalid. Liverpool mayor Joanne Anderson called the decision "incomprehensible". For the head of the province, Steve Rotheram, "it does not reflect what is really happening on the ground"; and even the central government, from London, expressed its disappointment: "We are extremely disappointed." However, there was no lack of those who took the opportunity to point the finger at the local administration, such as the local leader of the LibDems, Richard Kemp, according to whom this is to be remembered as a "day of shame" that "undoubtedly" warning will weigh on tourism and investments. The fact is that the decision does not come like a bolt from the blue,not entirely at least: there had been signs of it, even warnings, until that report last June that put an end to the dossier. However, there are those who wonder if UNESCO recognition is necessary to visit Liverpool or if it is not enough in the end to be the city that gave birth to the Beatles, for many heritage beyond any list and any possible vote.