The City of Canals faces an unsettling future.
Venice may be placed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
Venice teeters on the precipice of an uncertain future. This enchanting city, with its labyrinthine waterways, majestic palazzos, and a history as deep as the lagoon it sits upon, has long been a siren call to travelers worldwide. Yet, it now finds itself wrestling with a dual threat that could irrevocably alter its destiny: the onslaught of mass tourism and the relentless march of climate change.
Heritage in danger
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has proposed to place Venice and its lagoon on its World Heritage in Danger list. This is a sobering response to the city’s ongoing struggle to stave off the damage inflicted by mass tourism, climate change, and rampant development projects. Despite Venice’s valiant efforts to safeguard its delicate ecosystem and awe-inspiring architecture, such as the prohibition of cruise ships from its lagoon and the construction of sea walls to repel high tides, UNESCO contends that Italy’s proposed corrective measures fall short of what is required.
In an official statement UNESCO declared, ‘Resolution of long-standing but urgent issues is hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision for the long-term preservation of the property and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels.’
Following on, France 24 also reported UNESCO’s position: ‘The effects of the continuing deterioration due to human intervention, including continuing development, the impacts of climate change and mass tourism threaten to cause irreversible changes to the outstanding universal value of the property.’
Large ship ban’s economic ripples
This critique from UNESCO has been met with a defiant resistance from some prominent Italians with deep-seated ties to the city. Renato Brunetta, a former government minister, staunchly maintains that Venice is at the vanguard of the battle against climate change’s devastating effects. He counters that UNESCO’s recommendation to keep a ban on all large ships and directing them to other ports would strike a crippling blow to the city’s economic vitality. Similarly, former mayor Massimo Cacciari underscores that while tourism is exerting a strain on Venice, it also serves as a vital lifeline for the city and a significant contributor to Italy’s economy.
World Heritage in Danger list
The UNESCO list is a roll call of 55 endangered sites, including the historic centre of Vienna in Austria and the ancient centre of Damascus in Syria – while other sites recommended to be put on the danger list this year are Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine. UNESCO’s strategy for the endangered sites list is designed to galvanize conservation efforts and inclusion obligates the United Nations to collaborate with national authorities to devise a plan of corrective measures and subsequently monitor its implementation. The potential inclusion of Venice on this list serves as a stark wake-up call, highlighting the city’s precarious predicament and the pressing need for immediate action.
The inclusion of Venice is a significant blow to the pride of the Italian government and will usher in an era of close and potentially intrusive scrutiny of Venice by UNESCO officials. Politically, this is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for any Italian https://www.battleface.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Partners-showcase-2.jpgistration that frequently leverages its cultural treasures and conservation expertise as a tool of foreign policy.
Tides and sea walls
2023 isn’t the first time that Italy has been warned about an unwanted status to one of its most famous tourist sites. Venice skirted dangerously close to the endangered list in 2019 when they were issued a stern warning to the city about the damage caused by a relentless procession of cruise ships. In response, the government banned these behemoth vessels in 2021 – nevertheless the frequent waves produced by all the watercraft in the area have continued to erode the foundations of much of the city.
Whilst a new system of sea walls, operational since 2020, has already shielded Venice from numerous high tides that inundate the city and gnaw away at its ancient edifices, UNESCO has voiced concerns that the sea wall system is incomplete and requires modernization and ongoing maintenance. The agency has recognised that projects are in the pipeline or already in progress to enhance the lagoon’s ecosystem, but it insists that efforts to mitigate any environmental damage resulting from the sea walls must persist as high tides in Venice become an increasingly common occurrence.
Tourist regulation
In the past, Venice has employed technological tools to monitor and regulate the influx of tourists and proposed a ticketed booking system for visits to the city. However, this idea has been met with fierce opposition from many residents and has yet to fully come to fruition.
The future of Venice teeters on a knife-edge. The city’s destiny will hinge on the actions taken by the Italian authorities and the global community in response to UNESCO’s dire warning. As the world looks on, the hope is that Venice will not merely endure but flourish, continuing to bewitch visitors with its timeless allure while safeguarding its rich cultural legacy. The city’s survival is not just about preserving a place; it’s about preserving a unique way of life, a history, and a spirit that has captivated the world for centuries.
