This article examines the trajectory and fate of Delhi’s Imperial Capital Cities nomination, submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2015 for inscription on the World Heritage List. I employ the dossier and events surrounding its withdrawal to reveal the political imbrications of urban conservation, international institutions, neoliberal governance, and colonial histories. First, I underscore the prominence of India as a member of the World Heritage Committee and its efforts to secure an increasing number of UNESCO properties. Second, I situate the dossier within the ambit of neoliberal governance that recalibrates and promotes urban heritage preservation, while similarly encouraging development and economic growth. Building upon this point, I consider how sustained government efforts to reframe Delhi as a “global city,” coupled with the identification of Delhi’s imperial capitals with Mughal and British rule, resulted in the dossier’s withdrawal. Third, the episode reveals tensions in this specific political moment over contemporary perceptions of imperial occupation and “foreign” empires, which plagued the dossier from the outset and continue to reverberate today. Finally, there are lessons to be learned for urban heritage in India and Asian heritage in general, outside the narrow purview of European cities, so many of which are already listed as World Heritage.

中文翻译：

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两个城市的故事：德里作为联合国教科文组织世界遗产的命运

本文探讨了德里帝国首都城市提名的轨迹和命运，该提名于 2015 年提交给联合国教育、科学及文化组织 (UNESCO) 以列入世界遗产名录。我利用有关其退出的档案和事件来揭示城市保护、国际机构、新自由主义治理和殖民历史的政治影响。首先，我强调印度作为世界遗产委员会成员的突出地位以及它为保护越来越多的联合国教科文组织遗产所做的努力。其次，我将档案置于新自由主义治理范围内，重新调整和促进城市遗产保护，同时同样鼓励发展和经济增长。在此基础上，我认为政府持续努力将德里重塑为“全球城市”，再加上将德里的帝国首都认定为莫卧儿和英国统治，导致档案撤出。第三，这一事件揭示了这一特定政治时刻对当代帝国占领和“外国”帝国的看法的紧张局势，这种紧张局势从一开始就困扰着档案，并在今天继续回荡。最后，在欧洲城市的狭隘范围之外，印度的城市遗产和一般的亚洲遗产需要吸取教训，其中许多城市已经被列为世界遗产。这一集揭示了这一特定政治时刻对当代帝国占领和“外国”帝国的看法的紧张局势，这种紧张局势从一开始就困扰着档案，并在今天继续回荡。最后，在欧洲城市的狭隘范围之外，印度的城市遗产和一般的亚洲遗产需要吸取教训，其中许多城市已经被列为世界遗产。这一集揭示了这一特定政治时刻对当代帝国占领和“外国”帝国的看法的紧张局势，这种紧张局势从一开始就困扰着档案，并在今天继续回荡。最后，在欧洲城市的狭隘范围之外，印度的城市遗产和一般的亚洲遗产需要吸取教训，其中许多城市已经被列为世界遗产。