Nice classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

n 27 July 12 cannon shots were fired from the Castle Hill in Nice following the decision of UNESCO: the 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which was held in China inscribed "Nice, the city of the winter resort of Riviera" on its list. The Azure capital was listed for its architectural, landscaped and urbanistic heritage shaped by 200 years of cosmopolitan history from the end of the eighteenth century.



In 2020, the French government selected "Nice, Capital of Riviera Tourism" for inscription on the World Heritage List to be presented to UNESCO. This application concerned the urban complex of nearly 600 hectares which, from 1760 to the present day, played an exclusive role in the urban development of the Azure capital. The Minister of Culture at the time, Franck Riester, said: "The Nice file, which we decided to defend, is very original. It is a question of recognizing the heritage value of a new type of urbanism: cosmopolitan and leisure-oriented. What happened in Nice from the end of the 18th century was the invention of an important part of our modernity." A new type of town planning for the winter resort appeared in Nice at that period. A new town was built on an exceptional site, between sea and mountain, from a pre-existing urban core. A new and cosmopolitan city whose development was, between 1760 and 1960, determined by the function of resort. From the second half of the 19th century, the international success of Nice inspired the development of similar settlements along the coasts with similar relief and climate characteristics. Nice, because of its urban scale and the diversity of heritage strata it contains, is the model of reference of the city of Riviera.
The project of the city of Nice attracted the World Heritage Committee, its President H.E. Mr Tian Xuejun and the representatives of the 21 Member States of UNESCO. Each year, the organization designates a set of cultural and natural properties of exceptional interest to the common heritage of humanity.

But what does this project represent?

1. First, it is a worldwide recognition of the value of Nice’s heritage. It has become “one of the reference cities of the World Heritage” (M. Estrosi)
2. The city is known as a summer destination and this UNESCO World Heritage List will therefore be “a strong signal for internationally and winter tourism, less known.” (Rudy Salles – Deputy President of the Nice Tourist Office)
3. The ranking obliges the city in terms of urbanism, compliance with a specification to maintain the assets of Nice. To be classified is also to have a long-term urban policy, to have a development and an overall vision of the territory.
   N.B.: it would be noted here the risk of being deleted from the list if new constructions or developments harm or distort the protected site. A recent example - the city of Liverpool whose name was removed from the list by the UNESCO decision. The historic centre and docks of Liverpool, the birthplace of the Beatles, were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004, for having witnessed the development of one of the major centres of world trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the session held in China took the decision to withdraw it because the “new structures of the city undermined the authenticity and integrity of the site”
4. UNESCO does not give an envelope with the nomination and the sites concerned by the rankings commit to a duty of preservation, without any financial support from UNESCO. On the other hand, the organization provides experts if necessary to help preserve the sites concerned.
5. Within the classified area, demolition and construction permits must obtain the assent of the architect of the “Bâtiments de France”. Let’s hope that the charming buildings we know in Old Nice or the streets of the perimeter will not be the object of a real estate speculation labelled "UNESCO."
6. Sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage in Danger list receive financial assistance under the World Heritage Convention.