‘Gdynia Modernist City Centre’ as a Polish Candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List

In 2025, during the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris, Poland presented the nominated property for inscription on the World Heritage List: "Gdynia. Early Modernist City Centre". In accordance with the recommendation from the ICOMOS Evaluation, the nomination requires supplementation and the provision of certain clarifications. Nevertheless, the overall positive assessment of its Outstanding Universal Value, as well as its state of conservation and protection, provides
grounds to expect that Gdynia's nomination will be resubmitted to the World Heritage Committee at its next session in 2026 and stands a strong chance of being inscribed on the WHL. Such an outcome would represent a major success, crowning the consistent efforts undertaken in Gdynia for over 20 years, encompassing the protection, revalorization, and promotion of its local heritage. However, the inscription of the Gdynia Centre on the WHL would signify, above all, the recognition of the universal value of a great achievement of reborn Poland: the construction of Gdynia. In the article, the authors, as individuals directly involved in the preparation and nomination process of Gdynia for the WHL, present the related activities, as well as the conditions and conclusions that can be drawn from this undertaking.