Saturday, January 09, 2010

Two units of personnel from Langkawi to Penang...

...honestly, you can't move for UNESCO World Heritage Sites around here. The criteria for this accolade (only one needed from the list below...from Wikipedia) seem to be met by these two places, though sometimes you wonder whether backsheesh may have changed hands. It's open to judgement, and in the case of Johnstown, Penang, was awarded following much lobbying.

Next: Macclesfield and the Peak? You decide......

Cultural criteria:
  • I. "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius";
  • II. "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design";
  • III. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared";
  • IV. "to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history";
  • V. "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change";
  • VI. "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria.)

Natural criteria:

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