Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City

Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City
Cultural Heritage at risk

Index
1. Liverpool as world heritage site
2. Historical context of liverpool
3. Areas of Liverpool maritime mercantile city
4. Causes of destruction
5. Current threats
6. Liverpool waters and their protective actions

Liverpool as world heritage site
A cultural World Heritage Site is an historicmonument, group of buildings or site which is of outstanding universal value to the international community. Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, in England, was inscribed by UNESCO in July 2004 as "The supreme example of a commercial port at the time of Britain's greatest global influence."
This status ranks Liverpool alongside other internationally known historic cities such as Edinburgh, Bath,Vienna, Venice, Cuzco and Valparaiso.
In 2012 the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the proposed construction of Liverpool Waters project. It is one of the two endangered World Heritage Sites in Europe (the second endangered site are Medieval Monuments in Kosovo). Liverpool is of outstanding universal value because it played a leading role in the development of dockconstruction, port management and international trading systems in the 18th and 19th centuries. The buildings and structures of the port and the city are an exceptional testimony to mercantile culture. Liverpool played a major role in influencing globally significant demographic changes in the 18th and 19th centuries, through its involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its involvement as theleading port of mass European emigration to the New World.
The fundamental purpose of inscribing World Heritage Sites is to ensure that their outstanding universal value is conserved and understood. It is the most prestigious internationally recognised heritage status providing Liverpool with the opportunity to promote this unique status, increase civic pride and attract more cultural tourism.Historical context of the city
Located at the tidal mouth of the river Mersey where it meets the Irish Sea, the maritime mercantile City of Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire. It became the major port for the mass movement of people, including slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern docktechnology, transport systems and port management, and building construction.
Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City reflects the role of Liverpool as the supreme example of a commercial port at the time of Britain's greatest global influence. Liverpool grew into a major commercial port in the 18th century, when it was also crucial for the organization of the transatlantic slave trade. In the 19thcentury, Liverpool became a world mercantile center for general cargo and mass European emigration to the New World. It had major significance on world trade as one of the principal ports of the British Commonwealth. Its innovative techniques and types of dock, dock facilities and warehouse construction had worldwide influence. Liverpool was instrumental in the development of industrial canals in theBritish Isles in the 18th century, and of railway transport in the 19th century. All through this period, and particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool gave attention to the quality and innovation of its architecture and cultural activities. To this stand as testimony its outstanding public buildings, such as St. George's Hall, and its museums. Even in the 20th century, Liverpoolhas made a lasting contribution, remembered in the success of The Beatles, who were strongly influenced by Liverpool’s role as an international port city, which exposed them to seafarers, culture and music from around the world, especially America.
The view of Liverpool's waterfront was once very different from that of today. Where the world-famous riverside now stands was the tidal reach of the...