Rome: Management Plan for UNESCO site “Historical Center of Rome” approved. Objectives: conservation, enhancement, sustainability and communication.

26 July 2024 – Approved by the Capitoline Council on Management Plan 2024-2030 of the World Heritage Site “Historic Centre of Rome, the Extraterritorial Properties of the Holy See in the City and St. Paul Outside the Walls” whose drafting was coordinated by the Capitoline Superintendency. This is a step of great importance for the full and correct protection of the Roman monumental heritage recognized as being of world interest by UNESCO, the UN agency that deals, among other things, with the protection of global cultural heritage.

The historic center of Rome - an area of ​​almost 1500 hectares that includes a unique set of archaeological monuments, churches, palaces, parks and historic villas, fountains, streets and squares, the result of thousands of years of stratification - was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1980 and since then the planning of the actions necessary for the protection and enhancement of the area must follow directions and programs developed at national and international level. The UNESCO Site will then be joined, from 2023, by a "Buffer Zone", a "buffer zone" which has the dual task of protecting the UNESCO Site and forming a bridge between it and the more peripheral areas of the city.

The mission of the Management Plan – a very detailed document that must now be approved by the competent bodies of the Holy See, before being forwarded to the World Heritage Centre at UNESCO in Paris – is to ensure that the “Outstanding Universal Value” of the Site is preserved, which is an essential condition for the inclusion of the historic centre of Rome in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Plan – which is an update of a first Management Plan, approved in 2016 – it is therefore a guide for the correct interpretation of the values ​​that characterize the Site, combining conservation, growth and socio-economic development of the city and balancing the interests of the different subjects operating within it.

Its objectives are four: Conservation, Enhancement, Sustainability and Communication.

The criteria for carrying out actions of:

· Heritage Conservation, of the Natural Landscape and the Urban Landscape, mitigating the negative effects of anthropic activity on the decoration, strengthening the knowledge tools for the protection of the Urban Landscape and the Natural Landscape;

· Enhancement of tangible and intangible heritage of the Site, its history and its cultural identity also in coordination with initiatives coming from the local community, to be increasingly involved in decision-making processes;

· Support for the development of sustainable tourism, thanks to close coordination between the many players in the sector in order to enhance the identity values ​​of the Site and at the same time lighten the anthropic pressure on it, encouraging effective regulation of the accommodation system in order to safeguard the city fabric and community life ;

· Promotion of awareness of the Site, encouraging its coordinated communication with that of the various local institutions and promoting capacity building and employee training programmes.

“Rome is an extraordinary city, unique in the world for its thousand-year history, for the richness, variety and artistic quality of its monuments, for its cultural tradition and also for its intangible heritage and the inclusion of its historic center in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites is a real jewel in the crown” declared the Councilor for Culture of Rome Capital, Miguel Gotor. “The adoption of the new Management Plan is a fundamental step in being able to reconcile the protection and conservation of the heritage with the development of the modern city, finding a point of balance between tradition and technology and public and private interests, aiming to overcome the possible risk factors that could jeopardize the exceptional universal value recognized in Rome by UNESCO. The correct and careful management of the UNESCO Site of Rome is a challenge that we are facing with determination and commitment, also aware of our responsibility towards future generations”, he concluded.