UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, has announced the designation of 47 cities from 33 countries as new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The results of this year’s Call bears witness to the Network’s enhanced diversity and geographical representation with 22 cities from countries not previously represented.
The announcement included three additional U.S. cities: Austin, Texas (Media Arts); Detroit, Michigan (Design); and Tucson, Arizona (Gastronomy). Paducah was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts & Folk Art in November 2013 joining Santa Fe, New Mexico (Crafts and Folk Art, Design) and Iowa City, Iowa (Literature) as representatives of the cultural heritage and creative industry of the United States in the global network.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network welcomed the following cities within its seven creative fields (Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music):
- Adelaide (Australia) – Music
- Al-Ahsa (Saudi Arabia) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Austin (United States of America) – Media Arts
- Baghdad (Iraq) – Literature
- Bamiyan (Afghanistan) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Bandung (Indonesia) – Design
- Barcelona (Spain) – Literature
- Belém (Brazil) – Gastronomy
- Bergen (Norway) – Gastronomy
- Bitola (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) – Film
- Budapest (Hungary) – Design
- Burgos (Spain) – Gastronomy
- Dénia (Spain) – Gastronomy
- Detroit (United States of America) – Design
- Durán (Ecuador) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Ensenada (Mexico) – Gastronomy
- Gaziantep (Turkey) – Gastronomy
- Idanha-a-Nova (Portugal) – Music
- Isfahan (Iran [Islamic Republic of]) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Jaipur (India) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Katowice (Poland) – Music
- Kaunas (Lithuania) – Design
- Kingston (Jamaica) – Music
- Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Music
- Liverpool (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Music
- Ljubljana (Slovenia) – Literature
- Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Lviv (Ukraine) – Literature
- Medellín (Colombia) – Music
- Montevideo (Uruguay) – Literature
- Nottingham (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Literature
- Óbidos (Portugal) – Literature
- Parma (Italy) – Gastronomy
- Phuket (Thailand) – Gastronomy
- Puebla (Mexico) – Design
- Rasht (Iran [Islamic Republic of]) – Gastronomy
- Rome (Italy) – Film
- Salvador (Brazil) – Music
- San Cristóbal de las Casas (Mexico) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Santos (Brazil) – Film
- Sasayama (Japan) – Crafts and Folk Art
- Singapore (Singapore) – Design
- Tartu (Estonia) – Literature
- Tongyeong (Republic of Korea) – Music
- Tucson (United States of America) – Gastronomy
- Ulyanovsk (Russian Federation) – Literature
- Varanasi (India) – Music
Launched in 2004, the Network now comprises 116 cities worldwide. It aims to foster international cooperation with and between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy.
“The UNESCO Creative Cities Network represents an immense potential to assert the role of culture as enabler of sustainable development. I would like to recognize the many new cities and their countries that are enriching the Network with their diversity” declared the Director-General, as UNESCO celebrates in 2015 the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
By joining the Network, cities commit to collaborate and develop partnerships with a view to promoting creativity and cultural industries, to share best practices, to strengthen participation in cultural life, and to integrate culture in economic and social development strategies and plans.
###
Adapted from the official release by UNESCO available here.
