Chandigarh not designated World Heritage City: Centre to Parliament

The Centre today informed Parliament that the Union Territory of Chandigarh had not been designated as a World Heritage City, while the Chandigarh Capitol Complex was inscribed as a Transnational World Heritage Property in 2016 under the title “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.”

This information was given by Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekhawat in response to a starred question posed by Congress’ Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.

Though Tewari did not ask the question during Question Hour, as all Opposition members were protesting in the well of the House on the issue of Maha Kumbh stampede in Prayagraj, the printed reply submitted by the ministry to his question said, “The Union Territory of Chandigarh City has not been designated as a World Heritage City. However, the Chandigarh Capitol Complex has been inscribed as a Transnational World Heritage Property in 2016 under the title ‘The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement’. This Transnational World Heritage Property includes seven countries comprising Argentina, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Japan and India.”

Elaborating on the criteria for selecting a heritage city by UNESCO, the response by the minister stated that as per the UNESCO Operational Guidelines, 2024, any World Heritage property, including a World Heritage City, must fulfil one or more of the six criteria outlined by it.

These criterion include the concerned city should represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; 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; bear a unique or, at least, exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living or which has disappeared; and also the city should be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.

The city aiming for a heritage status should 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; and lastly, it should be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.

Deepika Gandhi, former director of Le Corbusier Centre, said Chandigarh as a city was not a heritage city, it’s a known fact. “World heritage is a different thing, we have local protected monuments which do not require approval from UNESCO,” she said, adding that we have declared some monuments as protected at the local level.

“We have three grades of heritage in the city, which have been mentioned in the Chandigarh Master Plan-2031. Like Capitol Complex and Sukhna Lake comes under Grade 1 of the Heritage Zones,” she added.