Critics of skyscrapers: The removal of Prague from UNESCO is not at risk now

Prague - Critics of the construction of new high-rise buildings on the Pankrác plain in Prague now say that the city's removal from the UNESCO World Heritage list due to skyscrapers is currently not a threat. Just a year ago, they warned strongly against this possibility.
    Representatives of protesting civic associations met this week with officials from UNESCO, who came to Prague to ascertain how the Czech Republic is taking care to ensure that the city does not lose the values for which it was inscribed on the World Heritage list.
    "The fact that the monitoring mission was attended by the director of the UNESCO Center himself signals a high assessment of the severity of the contentious issues surrounding the protection of the Prague Conservation Area. The removal of Prague from the World Heritage list is currently not a threat, however, the development of protection and devastation of the area will continue to be closely monitored from Paris," Petr Kužvart from the Atelier for the Environment association told ČTK today.
    According to him, increasing pressure from UNESCO up to possible removal can be expected "in the worst case."
    A year ago, UNESCO expressed "serious concern" over the planned construction of more high-rise buildings in Pankrác. Shortly thereafter, the Ministry of Culture closed the administrative proceedings regarding the skyscrapers and confirmed the city hall's decision to permit the buildings. The Pankrác plain is within the protective zone of the heritage reserve.
    Representatives of civic associations met with a mission led by the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, on Thursday. "We communicated that both the city leadership and the Czech state are yielding to commercial and political interests, and cultural heritage is not consistently protected," Kužvart stated. According to him, the representatives of the associations also pointed out the alleged inconsistency of the Ministry of Culture's decisions in heritage care and complained that official documents were being withheld from them.
    Mission members received the position of civic associations on construction in Pankrác as well as documents related to the local high-rise buildings and images of other similar projects in Modřany and Holešovice.
    So far, only civic associations have reported on the course of the expert mission, which ended today. The city and the Ministry of Culture have not commented on it yet. The participation of very high-ranking officials from the international institution may, according to experts, indicate a lack of trust in the objectivity of the report that the Czech state sent to the UNESCO committee regarding its care for the historic center of Prague inscribed on the World Heritage list.