Talk:World Heritage Site/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Yakikaki (talk · contribs) 19:57, 28 June 2020 (UTC)

Hi, I'll be happy to do this review of this important article. I'll try to get started tomorrow, it's late here already. Kind regards, Yakikaki (talk) 19:57, 28 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Hello, thanks for having this review started so quickly. Till soon, Kareldorado (talk) 05:04, 29 June 2020 (UTC)

Review
Overall, the article is very close to GA status, and indeed you’ve yourself done a great job by doing a thorough criteria check before nominating the article. That’s really commendable, it should be a role model for all of us! And the article is generally in a very fine condition, there are no real major obstacles as I can see from getting it to GA. Good work! The only two areas where I’ve some questions and ideas for improvement are the scope and the prose. The prose I will address last, these are minor things like choice of words and the structure of a few sentences. See if you agree with my points or not and we can discuss those things or just tick them off. I should also mention that some of the sources are marked on the WP as retrieved in as far back as 2006 and later archived. They still work and go to UNESCO, but you may want to update those, it would look a whole lot nicer. I couldn’t see any new info at UNESCO that contradicts these citations though so technically they work.

The only other thing I have is regarding the scope: what I miss in the article is a bit more elaboration on what the ‘’purpose’’ of World Heritage Sites are. You touch upon it briefly, noting that it will provide the site with legal protection, but I think a short section with two or three sentences explicitly addressing what the point of the whole scheme is, would be very welcome. I think you could pluck a lot of info from the UNESCO website. Do you agree? Perhaps it could also be made more succinct by including the first paragraph of the “Consequences” section in such a new section, and move the rest of that section to Endangerment and rename that section “Consequences and critique” or something like that – but that’s purely optional from my side.

Another, minor scope thing: what about adding a brief note about the cultural landscapes that are mentioned by UNESCO in their criteria page?

Apart from this, here are some prose notes:

The very first sentence: A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area, selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, which is legally protected by international treaties. is a bit unwieldly. I would suggest to split it up, possibly like this: “A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is legally protected by international treaties [from what and how?]. World Heritage Sites are designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance.”

The sites are judged to possess "cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity." I’m not sure a site possesses heritage. Do you think you could rephrase the sentence?

To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a landmark unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance. This is also unnecessarily complex, is it possible to simplify it?

the top three of countries with most sites are Axing it to “the three countries with most sites are” would make it read a bit smoother I think?

The United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. I’m not sure I understand this. Rephrase.

Thanks again for your hard and great work! Yakikaki (talk) 12:28, 29 June 2020 (UTC)
 * You are welcome; thank you for the thorough review and the encouraging words! Yesterday and today I had little time, but in the upcoming two weeks, I will put myself at it again. Cheers, Kareldorado (talk) 19:24, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
 * OK, no problem. I'll keep the review open for two weeks, after that I'll close it unless we're making progress. The entire GA review process is supposed to take seven days, normally. Cheers, Yakikaki (talk) 07:51, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Today I could address everything you mentioned – I think. Your suggestion to make a section about the whole purpose of WHS designation was very good. Would you want to reread, with special attention to the lead? Note that the modified "Endangerment and critique" chapter is quite large; I chose this section title since endangerment and critique are partly intertwined – part of the criticism is that WHS selection can lead to decay. Kareldorado (talk) 18:25, 5 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Kareldorado, thank you for these changes, I think the article has gained in quality through the process and I have no further objections to promoting it to GA status. Great work on an important topic! Yakikaki (talk) 20:56, 5 July 2020 (UTC)

One problem with considering this a "good article" is the over-capitalization of "site" when it's not part of a proper name. UNESCO does not do this, and WP style is to not do this, yet a number of editors objected when I once fixed it, so we're stuck. Time for a new RM discussion? Dicklyon (talk) 22:46, 5 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I did notice that there had been a long discussion about the name issue, but as it was closed, with last entries from 2018, I did not take it into account when making the GA review. Still, if you believe it's a pressing issue, there is of course nothing that stands in the way for another RM proposal. Personally, I have no strong opinion on this matter. Yakikaki (talk) 08:25, 6 July 2020 (UTC)
 * , please note that the 2018 RM double snow and then withdrawal would seem to have set the mood. Randy Kryn (talk) 20:43, 7 October 2021 (UTC)