Baháʼí World Centre
The Baháʼí World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Baháʼí Faith,[1] representing sites in or near the cities of Acre and Haifa, Israel.
For the buildings, see Baháʼí World Centre buildings.
Much of the international governance and coordination of the Baháʼí Faith occurs at the Baháʼí World Centre, including global teaching plans and study and translation of the Baháʼí holy writings. The Universal House of Justice, representing the supreme governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, resides in Haifa. The Baháʼí World Centre is also a major destination for religious tourism, and the current destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage, attracting annually about one million visitors.[2]
The location of the Baháʼí World Centre originated in Baháʼu'lláh's banishment and imprisonment to the fortress of Acre in 1868 by Ottoman authorities.[3][4]
Many of the locations at the Baháʼí World Centre, including the terraces and the Shrine of the Báb which constitute the north slope of Mount Carmel, were inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008.[5]
Perception by residents[edit]
Some faculty at the University of Haifa conducted interviews with 29 people from Haifa who were affected by the expansions at the Baháʼí World Centre beginning in the late 1980s and continuing throughout the 1990s. The construction included Gardens, terraces, the Center for the Study of texts, the International Teaching Center, and the expansion of the Archives. This culminated in an opening in 2001.[21]
The interviewees perceived the site as "a symbol of the city", "excellently managed and maintained", and post-construction, residents recognized the advantages of "financial contribution to the neighborhood community center and to Arab students in the city, increased property values, and improved environmental quality." However, they also felt "alienated and increasingly distanced from the site" due to fencing and access control, and inequality when they compared the site's "esthetically impressive, well-cultivated appearance to their own neighboring neighborhoods."[22]
The city of Haifa and others supported the site's establishment and promoted the projects for their inter-religious tolerance, esthetics, economic growth, tourism, and boosting the international status of the city of Haifa.[22] The interviews suggested that the expansion created conflicts with some locals who perceived the construction as "misleading and/or overly aggressive and exerting undue power and political influence over decision-makers... Disputes emerged not around values but primarily around questions of physical planning and local nuisances."[23] The interviewees who felt that they were treated unfairly wanted any-time unfettered access to the Baháʼí properties after opening, but the properties had controlled access with open hours and guided tours.[24] Some regarded Haifa as “a city that became sacred as a result of the slightly strange and mysterious Baha'i religion".[22]