BACKGROUND
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world that is of outstanding value to humanity.

A World Heritage site is a landmark or area, selected by UNESCO for having outstanding universal cultural, historical or scientific value. The World Heritage Site list is maintained by the International World Heritage Program and administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties that are elected by the UN General Assembly. The program catalogues, names and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture and heritage of humanity. The program began with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. There are currently 193 state parties (countries), including the United States of America, that have ratified the convention.

The nomination process for consideration of inscription on the World Heritage List is an incredibly complex multi-year endeavor. A brief summary of the process is outlined below:

Step 1 Tentative List
Responsible entity: U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, Office of International Affairs

The Tentative List is an official list, required by the World Heritage Committee and developed by each signatory to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, of properties that are believed by a country to meet the criteria for World Heritage listing and from which a country may make nominations to the World Heritage List. Only properties included on the U.S. Tentative List are eligible for nomination by the Department of the Interior. Inclusion on the Tentative List does not, however, guarantee future nomination.

The current U.S. Tentative List is a combination of some properties placed on the list in 2008, and others that were added in 2017. It now includes 19 properties or groups of properties. The current Tentative List is intended to be the source of U.S. World Heritage nominations through 2027.

The properties on the Tentative List were identified through a process that incorporated the advice of a wide range of subject-matter experts and provided for public suggestions and comment at several stages. The properties were identified by an expert Working Group established as a sub-committee of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, a Federal Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of State. The Working Group included the member agencies of the Federal Interagency Panel on World Heritage, which advises the Department of the Interior on World Heritage matters. Decisions on which properties to include on the Tentative List are made, after considering public comments, by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

The current Tentative List for the United States of America is composed of the following (12/04/2017 Last Revision):
Big Bend National Park (12/04/2017)
Brooklyn Bridge (12/04/2017)
California Current Conservation Complex (12/04/2017)
Central Park (12/04/2017)
Civil Rights Movement Sites (3/01/2008)
Dayton Aviation Sites (3/01/2008)
Early Chicago Skyscrapers (12/04/2017)
Ellis Island (12/04/2017)
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (30/01/2008)
Marianas Trench Marine National Monument (12/04/2017)
Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa (12/04/2017)
Moravian Church Settlements (12/04/2017)
Mount Vernon (30/01/2008)
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (30/01/2008)
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (12/04/2017)
Petrified Forest National Park (30/01/2008)
Serpent Mound (30/01/2008)
Thomas Jefferson Buildings (30/01/2008)
White Sands National Monument (30/01/2008)

Step 2 The Nomination File
By preparing a Tentative List and selecting sites from it, the U.S. Department of Interior (State Party) can plan when to present a nomination file. The World Heritage Centre offers advice and assistance to the State Party in preparing this file, which needs to be as exhaustive as possible, making sure the necessary documentation and maps are included. The nomination is submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review and to check it is complete. Once a nomination file is complete the World Heritage Centre sends it to the appropriate Advisory Bodies for evaluation.

The current rules of the World Heritage Committee limit countries to one nomination per year, though the U.S. does not make nominations every year. U.S. nominations are made at the discretion of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, and there is no fixed schedule for doing so. Between 2010 and 2019, the U.S. has had four (4) sites nominated and inscribed on the World Heritage Site list. The Assistant Secretary, with advice from the Federal Interagency Panel on World Heritage, considers a number of factors in identifying properties for nomination. One important current factor is the statutory prohibition, in place since 2011, on the U.S. paying dues to UNESCO or the World Heritage Fund. According the U.S. Department of Interior, this situation has created considerable uncertainty about the country’s ability to continue to make World Heritage nominations.

Step 3 The Advisory Bodies
A nominated property is independently evaluated by two Advisory Bodies mandated by the World Heritage Convention: the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which respectively provide the World Heritage Committee with evaluations of the cultural and natural sites nominated. The third Advisory Body is the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), an intergovernmental organization which provides the Committee with expert advice on conservation of cultural sites, as well as on training activities.

Step 4 The World Heritage Committee
Once a site has been nominated and evaluated, it is up to the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee to make the final decision on its inscription. Once a year, the Committee meets to decide which sites will be inscribed on the World Heritage List. It can also defer its decision and request further information on sites from the States Parties.

Responsibilities After Inscription
Site managers and local authorities are required to work continuously towards managing, monitoring and preserving the World Heritage properties and reporting to the Department of Interior, who has an obligation to regularly submit reports about the state of conservation and the various protection measures put in place for all of its World Heritage Sites. These reports allow the World Heritage Committee to assess the properties conditions and identify potential threats. If properties are threatened, the Committee will eventually decide on the necessity of adopting measures to resolve recurrent problems. The periodic reporting process provides updated information about the sites including all changes that have occurred.

Inscription as a World Heritage Site is one of the highest honors a historic site or district can receive and can positively impact the site and surrounding communities. This honor provides international recognition often resulting in a significant increase in tourism. Additionally, communities may be eligible to obtain funding through the World Heritage Fund to facilitate conservation. The fund provides up to $4 million annually to developing nations in order to assist with preservation efforts. A World Heritage Site listing may also assist communities with leveraging other types of funding including both public and private grant and loan programs.

PLANNING ANALYSIS
As outlined above, World Heritage site nomination is a complex and lengthy process that requires a substantial support at the federal level. While it appears that the City of Miami Beach possesses sites that meet the minimum criteria for inscription on the World Heritage List, there are many variables that make the process uncertain. According to the U.S. Department of Interior, additional sites will not be considered for placement on the tentative list until approximately 2027. Once a property is placed on the tentative list, it will likely be many years until a site is nominated, if ever.

The Miami Beach Architectural District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, likely has the greatest potential for World Heritage status. This area, which includes Ocean Drive, Collins Avenue and Flamingo Park, contains a significant concentration of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne hotels, apartments and houses.

A comparable case study for World Heritage site nomination is that of Napier, New Zealand. Napier, a popular tourist city, contains a similar large concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture. In 2007, the New Zealand Department of Conservation submitted a nomination for the City as a World Heritage Site. In 2011, the World Heritage Committee rejected nomination, citing that Art Deco Napier did not sufficiently meet the high test of being so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.

The conclusion of the Committee was that Art Deco itself, is not of outstanding universal value. Further, the report states that “a more persuasive argument for World Heritage status might have been mounted if the entire site had remained unmodified since the 1930s, but incremental changes, including the construction of multi-story buildings that are out of scale with the original townscape, have eroded its integrity”.

The ever-evolving nature of the Miami Beach Architectural District, as well as the incremental modifications that have been made to buildings over the decades, may not make the City a good candidate for World Heritage Site nomination. Additionally, if nominated, there would likely be significant restrictions placed on future modifications to structures within the district, in order to maintain World Heritage status. Further, a significant amount of local resources would be required, on an ongoing basis, for the management of the site and the City would not be eligible for any direct funding from the World Heritage Fund.

In view of the foregoing, and the anticipated need for additional incremental modifications to buildings and sites within the Architectural District in the future, the Administration does not recommend pursuing World Heritage site listing at this time.