What is in news : The English city of Liverpool has been removed from UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites

Why this move : United Nations’ cultural agency found new buildings, including a football stadium which undermined the attractiveness of its Victorian docks.

ABOUT LIVERPOOL CITY

• Liverpool was named a World Heritage Site in 2004, joining cultural landmarks such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.
• The city of Liverpool bears witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America.

ABOUT WORLD HERITAGE SITES

• A World Heritage site is classified as a natural or man-made area or a structure that is of international importance, and a space which requires special protection.
• These sites are officially recognised by the UN and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, also known as UNESCO.
• UNESCO believes that the sites classified as World Heritage are important for humanity, and they hold cultural and physical significance.
• The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
• Each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located and UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.
• To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance.