A thriving cultural legacy

THE UNITED Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) outlines ten key criteria for a cultural and natural heritage site to qualify for entry into the World Heritage List.

In addition to the site serving as a masterpiece of human creative genius, it must also exhibit an important interchange of human values over a period of time, and bear exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation. It must also be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement or human interaction with the environment, and be directly associated with events or living traditions.

All of these, and more, conform perfectly with the Dubai Creek, which is now readying to welcome experts from Unesco to assess its eligibility to enter the World Heritage Sites list.

The World Heritage List currently lists only one site from the UAE — the Cultural Sites of Al Ain (Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas) — apart from the tentative list featuring six sites including “Khor Dubai (Dubai Creek), Al Bidya Mosque, Ed-Dur Site, Settlement and Cementery of Umm an-Nar Island, Sir Bu Nair island and the Cultural Landscape of the Central Region in the Emirate of Sharjah.”

In its submission for Dubai Creek, the Dubai Municipality clearly underlines the importance of the site stating that “Khor Dubai and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods constitute an outstanding and universally valuable site where natural, architectural and cultural components create a unique urban landscape (and) where influences and human interactions from the entire Gulf region mingle into a coherent and alive ensemble preserving both tangible and intangible heritage values.”