Due to concerns about overdevelopment, the United Nations' cultural organisation Unesco has suggested that Liverpool's waterfront be removed from its list of world heritage monuments, a move that has enraged many residents in the northwestern English metropolis.

Unesco released the guidelines ahead of a meeting of its World Heritage Committee, which supervises the prestigious award, which will take place in Fuzhou, China, from July 16 to 31.

It has proposed that sites such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Venice, and Budapest be added to a list of "World Heritage in Danger," putting them at risk of being completely removed off the list.

The final decision on the deletion and warning proposals will be made at the China meeting.

The Maritime Mercantile City in central Liverpool is a “property proposed for deletion from the World Heritage List” during the meeting in China, Unesco said in a statement Friday.

This waterfront complex of buildings, warehouses, and docks was designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004 for bearing "witness to the development of one of the world's great trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries," according to Unesco.

The move was condemned as "very disappointing" by Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool City Region.

“We are proud of our history but our heritage is a vital part of our regeneration,” he said in a statement posted on social media.

“I’d urge them to take up our invitation to visit rather than taking their decision sat around a table on the other side of the world.”

Also proposed for deletion from the list is the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania.

Budapest and Venice, both of which have been the subject of concerns about development and cruise ship tourists, are among the sites being added to the World Heritage in Danger list in Europe.

“If Venice were to be removed, it would be a very serious thing for our country,” said Italy's Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, emphasising the necessity of finding long-term solutions to the problem of cruise ship tourists.

The valley of Kathmandu in Nepal, as well as the region around Lake Ohrid in Albania and Macedonia, are nominated for placement on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Australia announced on Tuesday that it would strongly fight a Unesco decision to designate the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger" due to climate change-related damage.

Volcanoes in the Russian Pacific area of Kamchatka are also recommended for the in-danger list.