The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added Liverpool’s Maritime Mercantile City to the list of removed heritage sites and third to be delisted since the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Oman, in 2007 and Elbe Valley in Dresden, Germany in 2009. The move follows concerns raised in 2012 about the proposed development of disused dockland near the city centre, which a UNESCO committee decided were “detrimental to the site’s authenticity and integrity”.
New additions to the city’s waterfront include the proposed Everton Football Club stadium, which is due to open for the 2024-25 season.
According to the statement, "The World Heritage Committee, holding its 44th session in Fuzhou and online, decided to delete the property ‘Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City’ (UK) from the World Heritage List, due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property”,
UNESCO who began to compile its list of World Heritage sites in 1972, having naming 12 initially added Liverpool to the list in 2004 in recognition of its role as one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries and its pioneering dock technology, transport systems and port management.
Media reports have indicated that Liverpool city leaders are dismayed and disappointed by the news and may consider lodging an appeal.
