The landscape crisis of the Guia Fortress refers to the landscape conservation crisis of the Guia Fortress, a part of the Historic Centre of Macau and a symbol of the city. This current crisis represents a threat to Macau's World Cultural Heritage.
In 2005, the Guia Fortress was inscribed on the World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Macau. In the same year, the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of the People's Republic of China repealed "The Outer Harbor and New Land Reclamation Urban Planning Charter" and "The Bylaws of South Bay Reorganization", two ordinances for the protection of the local World Heritage Site, which designate the area around the Penha Hill as free land for development and approve the construction of tall buildings around the Guia Fortress causing damage to the landscape, some of which will be much taller than Penha Hill when completed, undermining the Fortress' World Heritage status. The incident has aroused concern from all walks of life, and some civil groups have initiated a series of activities to stop the construction of super-tall buildings around Penha Hill. As of 2018, except for the Macau Liaison Office building, which was completed, other controversial projects are either in the planning stage, under construction, or on hold.
The Government of Macau has been criticized for its handling of the issue, and the incident has drawn the attention of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which has intervened in the investigation and issued a warning to the Macau authorities, while some voices in the community have criticized the Liaison Office for taking the lead in destroying the world's cultural heritage. In 2007, Macau residents sent a letter to UNESCO, pointing out that the construction of the Liaison Office building, among other projects, was damaging the view of the Guia Fortress, a World Heritage Site.榮芳杰, 《文化遺產管理之常道：一個管理動態變化的維護觀點》, 國立成功大學建築學系博士論文, 2008-11-11 UNESCO subsequently issued a warning to the Macau government, and the former Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho later signed the Chief Executive's Instruction No. 83/2008 (commonly known as the "Height Restriction Instruction") which restricted the height of the buildings around the Guia Fortress. However, compared to the Macau-Portugal period before "The Outer Harbor and New Land Reclamation Urban Planning Charter" and "The Bylaws of South Bay Reorganization" were repealed by the MSAR, the height restriction was actually expanded. It was criticized that the height of buildings within the 2.8 square kilometers of the fortress area was enlarged, with more than half of the height restriction area covered by buildings above the 75-meter height. In addition, although the Liaison Office conceded to lower the planned height of 99.9 meters to 88 meters, the view of the fortress was also severely damaged (according to the "height restriction instructions", the height restriction of the Liaison Office building is 90 meters), which led the property developers to follow and do the same.
With the rapid economic development and the exuberant real property market in Macau, many new buildings have been constructed, which have damaged the environment and landscape of the World Heritage Site to varying degrees. The Guia Fortress on Penha Hill is now surrounded by many high-rise buildings below the hill, and if various uncompleted high-rise projects are completed in the future, the view of the Guia Fortress will be further damaged. In contrast to many scenic spots outside of Macau that have adopted building height restrictions to preserve the original landscape of the area, the Macau government has been criticized for doing the opposite, violating the public's expectation of preserving the scenic beauty of the World Heritage Site, and making people question the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau for being afraid to speak up for fear of the powerful. The case of Guia Fortress is proof that the Government of Macau has neglected the protection of cultural heritage in urban planning, as commented by Chen Mingkou, a professor at Stanford University, and Yu Yong Yi, a professor at the University of Macau.
Historical background
The Guia Fortress (commonly known as Penha Hill Lighthouse) is located on the hilltop of Penha Hill in the Macau Peninsula. It was built in 1864 during the third year of the Tongzhi era of the Qing dynasty and designed by Carlos Vincente Da Rocha, a native Portuguese of Macau. It is the oldest lighthouse in the coastal region of China and is a symbol of Macau as it is located on the world map.
In 1992, Guia Fortress was selected as one of the "Eight Views of Macau" and in 2005, it was inscribed on the World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Centre of Macau.多項活動慶祝東望洋燈塔一百五十周年, 澳門文化局, 2015-06-30
Landscape features
Guia Fortress and Lighthouse are located at the highest point of Penha Hill, the highest peak of the Macau Peninsula, from where you can see almost the entire peninsula. According to Lui Chak Keong, a member of the Macau Cultural Heritage Committee and a qualified architect of the List of World Heritage Sites in France, a building under landscape protection involves two types of views: "the view from the base of the building to the exterior" and "the view of the building from a viewpoint of special significance located outside the building". He points out that one of the features of European medieval and Renaissance town design is the specific visual connection between the military fortress and the city streets, that visual connection is mainly due to military defense and urban surveillance, and that the historical Macau city also has the above-mentioned European town design features. The Guia Lighthouse and Guia Fortress, which are located far away from the city, still maintain an important visual connection before the modern expansion of the city. He also pointed out that in the preservation of the historic city district, in addition to restrictions on the height of the surrounding buildings, "view corridors" should also be developed.
Some of the more important viewpoints are around Avenida do Doutor Rodrigo Rodrigues to the south of the Guia Fortress, the Tap Seac Square to the north of the fortress, and the Lotus Square to the southeast, where the view of the Guia Fortress from Avenida do Doutor Rodrigo Rodrigues at the foot of the southern hill is connected to the mountain and the front façade of the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snows next to the lighthouse, which lacks other visual connections, but this unique viewpoint has been almost destroyed by the new high-rise buildings around Avenida do Doutor Rodrigo Rodrigues.
The 29th World Heritage Committee meeting in 2005 commented that "Macau is an example of an outstanding architectural complex that has witnessed the development of the East meets West civilization over the past 450 years, and the successful integration of urban space and architectural complexes has demonstrated the footprints of history." In particular, the Committee recommended that Macau "should make every effort to develop a management system that preserves the existing structural and visual integrity as well as protects the primary vision of the nominated area in a modern context".Meneses, J. (2016). The Victory of Heritage. Macau Business, (1812–6855), pp.72–73.
Landscape crisis In the same year the Guia Fortress was inscribed on the World Heritage Site, the Macau government, without any public consultation and explanation, repealed Order 68/91/M "The Outer Harbor and New Land Reclamation Urban Planning Charter" and Order 69/91/M "The Bylaws of South Bay Reorganization",澳門特別行政區立法會會刊—第二組, 第III-12期, 2006-09-30 allowing the construction of a cluster of super-tall buildings with a minimum height of 90 meters on seven lots in the area of Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues at an altitude of only 91 meters above sea level, damaging the view of the Fortress and causing concern and warnings from various sectors, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Monitoring indicators According to the World Heritage Centre, all its inscriptions after 1998 must list the relevant monitoring elements of the World Heritage Site. This measure has prompted the States Parties to pay attention to the fixed and variable monitoring indicators implied by the different heritage types in their countries, and the key indicators for assessing the state of conservation of the "Historic Centre of Macau" are as follows (one of the monitored variables, "changes in the surrounding environment", has been discontinued):
The state of maintenance of historical authenticity External modifications and changes Structural stability Infiltration Climate Partial or total replacement or damage Historical authenticity of restoration materials Changes in the surrounding environment
Some civic groups have criticized that not only has the landscape around the city not been maintained and improved, but on the contrary, since the Macau government withdrew the orders that had a protective effect on the World Heritage Site, high-rise buildings have been built around the Guia Fortress that affect the view of it, and according to the UNESCO report, two factors are affecting Macau's World Heritage: "the potential negative impact of construction works in the area surrounding the buffer" and "the lack of a proper management system".
Super high-rise controversy
Lot 136 (completed joint office building) In August 2006, the authorities announced the remediation plan for the area around Avenida do Doutor Rodrigo Rodrigues, the new port of the Macau Peninsula. The proposal showed that the building height restriction was significantly eased for various lots on the hillside of Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues, with the height of Lot 134 being changed to 135 meters above sea level and the building height of various lots next to it being changed to a range of 99.9 meters to 99 meters. The proposal makers agreed that "the height of the building is restricted due to the altitude and the main sightline of the Fortress", but at the same time allowed the "appropriate relief" considering that Lot 134 was not within the main sightline of the lighthouse, with Lot 136 being granted to the Macau Liaison Office in the MSAR for the construction of a 99.9-meter-tall office building. The construction of the Liaison Office building was the first and only one to be completed in a series of newly approved super-tall buildings at the foot of Penha Hill, which was approved by the Chinese government and formally approved by the State Ministry of Finance. When the Liaison Office building was still in the foundation construction stage, there were voices pointing out that even if the concerned heritage conservation groups dared to "tear up" the Liaison Office, it was impossible to stop the project from proceeding.
Macau Legislative Assembly member Au Kam San pointed out that after the repeal of the two orders, the authorities plan to widen the building height around the new border crossing of Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues from 90 meters to even 135 meters. Once this series of high-rise buildings are completed, it will be like a large circular concrete wall enclosing Penha Hill from the direction of the new border crossing, and the beautiful appearance of the small city will be replaced by a "concrete forest" from now on.
In 2007, the Concern Group for the Protection of the Guia Fortress, a local civil society organization, submitted a letter entitled "World Heritage Site: The Historic Centre of Macau is in danger" to the World Heritage Centre, stating: