the historical capital in central asia was one called the most beautiful city in the world. a cultural cross roads with 2,000 years of history. in the 14th century, it flourished as the capital of the timur empire. it was an age of magnificent islamic architecture.

it is surrounded by three. it was once a bustling hub of silk road trade. once central asia's largest mosque, bibi-khanum. it is decorated with vivid blue tiles, the happy results of united chinese ceramics and persian pigment. the old city was built by timur and stands alongside the new city and houses many orthodox churches and other historic

architecture. it has rapidly become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, welcoming over 20,000 visitors in 2018. >> however, unesco has begun to sound the e awill rememblarmala >> the purpose of this mission is to consider the first hope and impact of the planned devel development project. >> tourism development and

infrastructure changes are moving fast. today we examine how a world heritage city grapples with tourism development. architecture expert from germany. he's a member of an organization that inspects and monitors sites for unesco. he's been recording the condititions o of the buiuildin since 2006. he's deeply concerned about the city's recent sudden changes.

a russian church that's over 100 years old. and beside it -- >> this building is much too high for the surrounding here. they destroyed some smaller old houses, destroyed houses herement and you can see the houses around it they all had one or two stories. >> the emperor and his son lie in the mausoleum. but famous sites like this are not the only heritage spots. unesco has stateted that a streh of land five kilometers long must be conserved by the

government. his main concern is that new development will destroy the ancient neighborhoods surrounding the sites. >> even for tourists and for everybody who comes here very interesting expression of society and traditional for centuries a way of living and organizing your every day life. we can go now to the other side, to the neighborhood. >> around 2,000 people live within this three by three kilometer area in a traditional community known as a mahala. this dates back 1,200 years. >> here we are now in the center of mahala, of a community and

neighborhood where it's the mosque. here this one is approximately 120, 130 years old. >> this is a traditional mosque with wooden terraces. each mahala has its own small mosque which serves as a social hub for residents. forr centuries, people celelebrd and mrned as a community, sharing meals and helping one another. maha lrks arkl a' mahalas provide a glimpse into the way of life. yet, few tourists visit these areas.

jordan explains that they have a lot of unrecognized beauty to offer visitors. >> the seating here is very nice and beautiful and it's a good example of the heritage and then the city. >> this house was built in the 1800s by a wealthy fruruit merchant. its traditional architecture with lavish islamic ornamentation. some homes have been adapted for tourism and turned into guest houses or restaurants. but many have simply vanished. only 50 such homes now remain. a large number have been

abandoned and fallen into dis disrepa disrepair. they are now vanishing fast under new development. jordan takes us to one spot where it is clear how little importance has been placed on them as a tourism resource. >> this side is the houses of the neighborhood. and in the past we had here some beautiful small gardens in front ofof the houses, and they were destroyed by this wall. the officials might think more poorly looking houses, so they prefer to have this hide, big wall here. you can go on the other side. this area here was also a

neighborhood. on this side you can see the touristic side of the separating wall. >> the wall was built by the government. this was taken at the same spot during the 1980s. historic sites were an essential part of every day life, a vital living piece of the cityscape. today a road and park have replaced part of the mahala and the mausoleum has been separated by the rest by a wall. the government claims the wall was built to promote tourism.

>> some locals refer to it as the berlin wall. similar walls are going up all around the city.

>> the concerted push towards tourism d development comes froa change in national policy. the president tookk offffice i 2016 and relaxed the isolatationist policieses he's pushed for tourism and relaxed visaa regulations. his goal i is to draw ten milli touriststs by 2022. has benefitted from tourism, the effects have yet to reach most mahalas.

although areas around major sites have been improved before tourists, mahala infrastructure remains untouched. the streets are torn up and power cuts are a constant problem. the average income is just $200 u.s. a month and most families rely on relatives working abroad

who send money home. many locals are eager to take advantage of the growing tourism industry. they're also changing the local landscape. the malaha near the mausoleum has seen a crowd of homes newly turned into hotels. local elder has spent decades working to improve cononditionsn the neighborhood. hehe b believess mahalalas are l tourism resource. he's currently working to clean and restore the water courses in the mahala. kamil is proud of the long

history and is frustrated by the walls which hide them from the tourists. >> he has also extended his home and will open a guest house for foreign visitors later this year. he'll offer a warm family welcome and great views from a three stotory home.

he has high hopes for the early summer tourist season. but it's currently illegal to build above two stories within a mahala within the heritage boundaries. this is to preserve the scenery. >> tourism and development is a big chance for the inheritance of the city for the mahalas to

generate some income. if he can have two stories, why not for me the same? so it would have been very important t t tearr down there. but obviously that's not possible to get the upper floor away from the building. and it would be very important not to invest only in touristic beautify case of the city but to investinfrastructures of the malahas to improve the situation there. >> while they face infrastructure problems, he also lacks the facilities requiuiredo host large numbers of tourists.

just 130 hotels serve tourists each year. there is particularly strong demand for large scale hotels. the largest of a stream of new construction plans for major hotels is the city complex. it would feature a hotel housing up to 450 guests along with the theater, restaurants and other tourist attractions. it is being built by a chinese

firm. the capital is coming from the chinese government's silk road fund. this fund invests in inf infrastructure projects across asia as part of china's belt and road policies. however, in 2019 unesco raised concerns about the project's negative effects on the world heritage site. while construction will take place just outside the heritage zone, the area is part of a buffer zone set up by unesco to protect the historic zone. usage of the land is restricted, and the impac on the se must be carefully considered. since there are many other major projects in the works, unesco

has issued a formal request for details and oversight from the government. >> the purpose of this mission is to consider the full scope and potential impact of plan development project and also to consider the progress achieved asas the development of master plplan and updateded managementn and maybe just to finish on the inscription all elements suchh s streets, mahalas or other buildings built as part of the city as a whole urban structure itself. >> development continues within the heritage zone itself. it's generally forbidden to build anything above two stories

or above three stories in the new city. any demolitions or changes that could impact the city's cultural value require permission from unesco. here a medical school is being built. a fountain marks the planned entrance to the school. but one building remains in the construction zone, built during the russian impmperial era, it 140 years old. it's owned by a man who opened a restaurant here 15 years ago. but in 2018 he was served an eviction notice.

but he claims that the government itself is breaking rules on world heritage sites. the four story medical school is already under construction. although he's currently fighting the case in court, the outlook is uncertain. the city insists his building has no value as a cultural artifact. they continue to push for an eviction. he has to close his restaurant and has now turned to development work. he has concerns about the city's future. he's already been asked to help with the city project.

but the potential for profit has already led to one major incident. in 2018, the regional governor was arrerested. he h had taken a two million dollar bribe for permitting several high raise areas to be built within the zone. he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. development must not come at the

expense of tourism assets. it is a difficult line to walk. >> there is a thin line between heritage and being able to generate certain economic impact from tourists. so unfortunately, unfortunately in certain places, and we are fighting with certain local governments so all of a sudden they take it and made a renovation thinking they're doing a good thing. we have to first educate the local population that that's wrong, that the people who arer coming to see something, they're not coming from a distant land. >> there are four locations on the world cultural heritage list. in 2016, unesco put the town center on the endangered list. it stated that over development

led to universal changes of the appearance. the area is home to 15th century buildings such as this summer palace. >> well, i think to contrast the monument, this is good. why not? >> there used to be a bustling ma mahala just south of the palace. but in 2014, the government tore

it down. the idea was t establish a tourist path to the mosque and other heritage sites. hotels and restaurants were built on both sides of the avenue to hide what remained of the mahala. >> so there was the first settlement from which developed the old city, became bigger and all this history is wiped out, destroyed. so find some solution to keep it there or if they'll delete it, nobody knows what will happen.

>> since it became an endangered site, fewer and fewer foreign tourists are including it in their travel plans. if nothing is improved, the city will be removed from the world heritage list. the government has recognized that mistakes led to overdevelopment and has prompted to improve the situation. >> i'm meeting with the unesca team. we're coming from paris too check, again, what's happening in our world heritage sites. they're very thorough. they're very critical. we have a joke even if you change the lightbulb, you have to ask from the representative to change the lightbulb. now we are very keen to go by the international guidelines. >> january 2020 marked a major turning point for the city project.

after unesco made its observations, the local government agreed to a total review of the situations. the project will now be moved further away and a l rise hotel will be built on the iginal site instead. these plants wille discussed by the world heritage committee this summer. the government will waive visas for china and 19 other countries from 2020. the move is bound to draw even more vivisitors. how will the city preserve its historic landscape and preserve its tourism industry alongside its residents. it's a thorny question, but it's

one they must answer.

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