We can further discuss the "upgrade" of our Top 50 Missing here. We have 3 vacant spots, but we can always look at more.

To prevent very long lists of suggestions, maybe everyone can come up with a Top 3 Missing, which includes reasons why the sites are good enough to make it into the list. To me it doesn't matter if it's on the T-List or not. I would omit sites that already are in the current Top 50 Missing.

Looking back at my travels during the last 5 years, I would go for:

Peru: Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol. They were built by the Moche people, an important group in Peruvian history that has no links to a current WHS. Great site to visit.

Laos: Plain of Jars. Just because Laos deserves another WHS, and it is such a peculiar site. It has always been on my "watch list" at the same level as the statues on Easter Island.

Lebanon: Chouf Region with the Beiteddine Palace. Lebanon has probably been the biggest surprise among my recent travels, Such a variety, and historical interest on every corner. The Chouf is the heartland of the region's Druze population.

This leaves sites such as Sarajevo or the Silk Road to others....

I will focus on (3) exceptional natural sites.

Philippines: El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (16/05/2006) - Incredibly diverse ecosystems, large numbers of endemic species. Furthermore, Palawan Island is really the gem of the Philippines.

South Korea: Southwestern Coast Tidal Flats (11/01/2010) - Google Suncheon Bay and you might be convinced this is an outstanding site. Korea deserves one more natural inscription, with 21 national parks in such a small country, Korea's natural sites are one of the countries best kept secrets.

United States: Petrified Forest National Park (30/01/2008) - I was torn whether to choose this site or White Sands. Ultimately, I believe the Petrified Forest is more important. This is an incredible desert National Park that is very diverse in fossilized plants and animals. The northern portion of the park is known as the painted desert, and it is wonderful. The vast of amount of petrified wood is the main draw, but the park has a lot to offer any visitor.

By the way, can the Major Building of Frank Lloyd Wright for Japan be removed? I know this is part of the US proposal in the original Top 50 Missing, but there is little reason for the properties in Japan to be included. First, because the US nomination covers the most outstanding properties of FLW. Second, because the properties in Japan are largely non-existent and likely not even worthy of an extension. Only (2) complete FLW buildings remain today in Japan, and two portions of others. While these two buildings are nice, they add very little to the 11 properties currently being submitted in the US nomination. While a extension could perhaps be pursued one day, this is certainly not in the Top 50 missing category.

Other sites I would recommend removing from the Top 50 missing:

Palaces of Yalta (Ukraine)
Panorama Mesdag (Netherlands)
Modern Legacy of Vienna (Austria)
Divided Cities along the German Border (Germany/Poland)
Suez Canal (Egypt)

All interesting proposals, but I don't think Top 50 missing.

Well, as I understand it, we never really achieved a "Top 50 Missing" list - rather a number of proposals for such a List from Forum "members", some of which received several "nominations" and some of which were very much the personal nomination of a particular individual.

This "number of proposals" approximated to 50 (on the basis of my count yesterday of the 2 indices) but that was more accidental than the result of any filtering process to stop at 50.

We have 3 main options for proceeding
a. Add our latest nominations on the basis of Els's proposal to "add 3" and then engage in some process to trim it! (But how?)
b. Trim first and then make further nominations when we see how many "spaces" are left
c. Trim and nominate at the same time.

My preference would be for a. We really need a list larger than 50 on which to make trimming decisions/discussions! Could I sugggest that Els recreates a single nominated list as it currently stands (it is awkward to have 2 lists split A-M, N-Z as it makes it more difficult to "see" it in the whole) - without any trimming other than for the 3 already-inscribed sites but including the most recent "3 additions" where made and maintain it as a "sticky post" at the head of this subject.

In a week or so after all "active" members have had a chance to add to the list we could start a trimming process. I suspect that, once a site has not been trimmed it will prove very difficult in future to get it removed even if other sites are nominated so, perhaps also we could keep 3 lists so that evertyone feels that their nominations are not totally forgotten!
a. Agreed "Current" Top 50 (even if it doesn't actually reach 50 sites!)
b. Nominations for consideration/discussion - to give active members a chance to make points.
c. Nominated but not current "top 50" - to keep a record of sites which someone thought worthy.

I suggest the following sites because their outstanding universal value has been officially proven, but despite that these sites have not yet been registered:

-Bolgar
-Maymand

http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2013/whc13-37com-20-en.pdf
"Recognizing the Outstanding Universal Value of the site, refers..."

And also :

-Chauvet
http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2012/whc12-36com-8B1infAdd2-fr.pdf
-Triple-arch Gate at Dan
http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4312

Technically, these 4 sites have proven their value and merit de facto integration into the top 50.

That doesn't necessarily make them "Top 50 missing" though? Just because the States Party has brought them to that stage of nomination and the OUV has been accepted? And I suspect that there are others among those deferred/referred which were not fully inscribed because of OUV issues but rather because of Management, boundaries etc.

Here are 3 from my side:

- Serbia: Synagogue of Subotica. There is no synagogue inscribed by itself on the WHL yet - indeed, apart from Auschwitz, I don't recall any site in Central/Eastern Europe being inscribed solely as a monument to the Jewish heritage of the region. In addition, the synagogue of Subotica is a testimony to Art Nouveau - in contrast to other synagogues which were often built in a Neo-Moorish style.

- USA: Mount Rushmore. Some may consider it a very national monument (but aren't all monuments first and foremost national monuments?); some may consider it kitsch / artistically not very relevant (but really, are the Christ Redeemer statue in Rio or the Statue of Liberty the pinacle of art?). To me, Mount Rushmore is the Madara rider of the 20th century. A gigantic relief commemorate the past rulers of a large and powerful state - the ancient Egyptians or Persians would surely have approved.

- India: Chhatris (cenotaphs) of Orchha. Certainly, India is full of mausolea and cenotaphs (and Pakistan also has its fair share, as we have recently learned). I just believe that India deserves to have more WH sites, given its huge size and long and convoluted history. Orchha may not have been the most relevant state in this long history, but the pictures of the line of royal chhatris viewed from the river are to me among the most Indian one can get.

I will try to do that. A list that long does not fit in a forum text box, but I'll create a normal html-page for that

Italy : Scrovegni Chapel (perhaps add it to the botanical garden in Padua)

Burma/Myanmar : Bagan + Wooden Monasteries + Shwedagon Pagoda

France : Drift Passes of Rangiroa, French Polynesia

I would like to refer to the list of filling up the gaps and recommend some sites that could address these gaps. Additionally, I shall refer to the list of missing countries and territories. I haven't got ideas for all of them so feel free to add your own.


A:
1) pastoralist cultures - sites from Central Asia?
2) traditional production of crops such as wheat, barley,
maize, millet, cocoa, cotton, rubber or fruits - African and North American sites?
3) historic and traditional irrigation systems - Nan Madol (Micronesia), Knossos (Greece), ?
4) human seasonal migration (transhumance) - ?
5) sacred and/or symbolic significance of certain natural
features such as mountains, volcanoes, forests, groves, etc - represented in Africa and Asia. More needed from the Pacific, Australia and the Americas.
6) African, Asian and Pacific vernacular architecture - Asian and African are represented. Pacific completely missing - Papua!
7) Non European technological properties - as mentioned, Suez and Panama canals. I would add NASA and some Soviet sites. Trans-Siberian railway.
8) pre-industrial revolution technological properties (mining sites excluded) - ?
9) sites representing Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism - Judaism the most underrepresented. Schum nomination in Germany. Further ideas?
10) modern heritage - highly underrepresented. NASA, Chicago school, Miami art deco, Watts Tower, Munich Olympic Stadium. I further embrace hubert's suggestions for contemporary architecture. Ford, Hollywood, NASA, Moscow underground.
11) cultural landscapes in Arab countries - ?
12) African archaeology, rock art, cultural routes and burial sites - ?


And now to category B:

1) Ancient Mesopotamian cultures - Babylon, Ur, Nemrud (all Iraq)
2) Anatolian cultures - Mitani, Lycians, Göbekli Tepe (all Turkey)
3) Ancient Egypt - sites on Egypt's T list
4) Seljuk and Ottoman Empires - Bursa, Konya (both Turkey)
5) Central Asia (cultural) - Silk Road
6) Pacific except Australia (cultural) - Nan Madol (Micronesia), some Polynesian sites (Lapita in Samoa, Marae in French Polynesia, Tonga)
7) Central Africa (cultural), e.g. Bantu states - ?
8) Post independence sites from the Americas - Rogelio Salmona in Colombia, Eladio Dieste in Uruguay, Ford, Hollywood
9) Precolumbian cultures (except Mayan) - Huaca del sol (Moche) - Peru, Huari - Peru, Ciudad Perdida - Colombia, Guyalbo - Costa Rica, Chinchorro - Chile, Kuhikugu - Brazil, Monte Verde - Chile, Ometepe - Nicaragua, Caguana - Puerto Rico, Tenochtitlan (Olmec) - Mexico

and category C:

1) expressions of oral traditions,
music, education, philosophy, health and justice - For education Oxford and Cambridge. For justice the Nuremberg trials site. For philosophy the Kibbutz, Civil Rights Movement.
2) rural settlements - well represented?
3) modern towns (19th century onward) - ?
4) necropolises - well represented?
5) industrial landscapes - Ford, Hollywood
6) Zoroastrianism - ?
7) living indigenous beliefs - ?
8) hunting-gathering-fishing - Göbekli Tepe (Turkey) for gathering
9) places of mythical origin (whatever this should mean!) - ?
10) cultural routes - Silk Route
11) migration-nomadism-slavery - Ellis Island for migration, ?
12) land roads - the Trans-Siberian, Qapaq Nan
13) aviation - Hangar Y, Tempelhof
14) energy conversion and utilisation (wind power,
water energy, steam, coal, electricity, thermonuclear energy,
etc.) - ?

A
1) cold winter deserts - Gobi, Colorado
2) tundras - well represented
3) polar systems - Antarctica!

B
1) Andaman
3) Benguela Current
4) Central Asian deserts - Gobi
5) Fiji (marine)
7) Karoo desert
9) Maldives-Chagos atolls
10) New Caledonia dry and moist forests
12) Red Sea
14) Sudd-Sahelian savanna and flooded grasslands
15) Tahiti
16) Volga and Lena river deltas

And now to habitats (C):

2) Okavango (and Sudd)
3) Eastern Arc Mts
4) Atlas Mts
6) tropical mangroves of Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania
8) Somali-Maasai savannah
9) Sub-tropical forests of Cambodia
10) tropical montane forests of Philippines and Sulawesi
11) temprate deserts of central and eastern Asia
12) shrubland of the southern Caucasus
13) shrubland and savannahs of Southwest Australia
14) rainforests of Polynesia and Micronesia
15) mangroves of Eastern Papua and Northern Australia
16) Californian shrub
18) rainforests of Southern Chile
19) Mosquito
20) temperate forests and shrubland of Central Chile
21) grasslands of Falklands and Tierra del Fuego
22) tropical Andes
23) coastal deserts of Chile and Peru
24) South Georgia
26) maquis
27) montado of Portugal and Spain

Geology:

1) tectonic and structural features
2) stratigraphic sites
3) meteorite impact - Chicxulub (Mexico)

Missing countries and territories:

Famagusta (Northern Cyprus)
Taiwan ?
South Sudan ?
Somalia ?
Mariana Trench (Marianas and Guam)
Grasslands of Falklands
South Georgia (natural)
Maldive and Chagos atolls
Angola ?
Asmara (Eritrea)
Tonga and Samoa (Lapita sites)
Dzongs (Bhutan)
Rwanda - memorial sites
Marae and Tahiti natural (French Polynesia)
Svalbard
Kaieteur (Guyana)
Bagan (Myanmar)
Nan Madol (Micronesia)
Jamaica ?

Didn't Causses/Cevennes "fill" this gap"?



Al Ain?

I would like to suggest three sites that represent modern architecture, the first two suggestions were certainly trend-setting:

Tempelhof Airport, Berlin: the first modern airport with all facilities integrated in one large (1200 m long) building: passenger area (with separate levels for arrival, departure and freight traffic), hangars, and additional facilities such as hotel, restaurants, administration. A characteristic feature is the cantilevered roof constuction which extends over the entire length of the building.

First skyscapers of the Chicago School of Architecture: built at the end of 19th / beginning of 20th Century in downtown Chicago (Chicago loop), eg Reliance Building, Chicago Building, Auditorium Building, Printing House Row District.

It is difficult to select an example from the last 2-3 decades, it is not clear yet which structures and buildings have the most impact on future developments and most of the contemporary architects are still active and perhaps have not yet completed their best wprojects. Thus I would suggest to select only one or two from this category for our list. The following will probably find wide approval:

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Frank Gehry

Alternatively I would suggest:
Millau Viaduct, Norman Foster
Jewish Museum Berlin, Daniel Libeskind
Centre Pompidou, Renzo Piano
Santiago Calatrava (my personal favourite among modern architects): City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia or TGV Railway Station in Liège

Some of the gaps are such that can be filled by a single inscription. Most typically these are natural criteria that are very narrow by nature. Therefore, after Okavango being nominated the Okavango and Sudd habitat gap will most probably be considered closed.
This isn't always the case with other gaps. A single nomination of a modern site will not fill up the gap of modern heritage. Therefore, the question should be: are transhumance or Arab cultural landscapes important enough for them to merit more than a single representation on the list? I am not saying they do. I am just trying to point to the direction the discussion should go. And of course not all gaps are equally important.

Yes of course, I forgot that we have never actually "removed" a subject from the Gap List however many inscriptions it might have received.

I have just looked back on your earlier analysis of inscriptions by year and their assignment to "gaps". At one point you state "I hope it's now complete and awaits some statistic evaluation".
Which I guess we still "await"! I am not volunteering at the moment but a quick review of the "assignments" gives me the feeling that some/many of the "gaps" have done quite well. Indeed, well enough not really to be considered "gaps" any more or at least well enough that other subjects not originally identified back in 2003 might indeed constitute greater "gaps". "Modern towns (19C onward)" for instance is now well represented - not that there are no more potential canididates but that the subject certainly doesn't need "special attention" either by UNESCO or by us when considering the top 50 missing..