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Outstanding universal values
To protect and preserve world heritage sites, UNESCO works with the concept of OUV’s (Outstanding Universal Values). These values are specific to each heritage site. The OUV’s are defined in the nomination document to become a UNESCO world heritage site by the local applicants. The UNESCO world heritage status is awarded based on the OUV’s and the UNESCO status can be taken away when the OUV’s are not maintained.
On the UNESCO website the OUV’s of the Wachau cultural landscape are as follows:
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“Criterion (ii): The Wachau is an outstanding example of a riverine material evidence of its long historical evolution has survived to a remarkable degree. settlements, and the agricultural use of the land in the Wachau vividly illustrate a basically medieval landscape which has These values are imprecise, generic and leave the Wachau cultural landscape vulnerable to stasis. Overly generic or imprecise OUV’s can be used to prohibit necessary new developments4. A good example of this is the Dorset and East Devon coast UNESCO site. Its OUV’s describe it as “defined by natural processes” and “little impacted by human development”5. The description was meant to indicate a lack of coastal settlements. However, the OUV’s were invoked by a local council to reject the fardeveloped construction plans for a wind-farm 10km off the coast of Devon. The wind-farm could have been a sustainable power source for
landscape bordered by mountains in which
Criterion (iv): The architecture, the human evolved organically and harmoniously over time.”3
the inhabitants of the region Precisely described OUV’s allow designers to make proposals for the integration of necessary new developments that respect and maintain the qualities of a site6 . Of course, UNESCO heritage should not be open to unbridled development. But many of the approximately 30,000 inhabitants of Melk and Krems live in the Wachau. These inhabitants have modern needs that need to be met in order to keep the area livable. On the long term, a lack of development caused by imprecise OUV’s will be detrimental to the valley.
