49 cities join UNESCO Creative Cities Network

49 cities have joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) following their designation by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, in recognition of their commitment to placing culture and creativity at the heart of their development and to sharing knowledge and good practices.

The Network now numbers 295 cities reaching 90 countries that invest in culture and creativity – crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music – to advance sustainable urban development.

“A new urban model needs to be developed in every city, with its architects, town planners, landscapers and citizens”, says UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, “We are urging everyone to work with States to reinforce the international cooperation between cities which UNESCO wishes to promote.”

Newly designated Creative Cities such as Bohicon, Doha and Jakarta will join forces with existing member cities including Brazzaville, Dubai, Mexico City and Montréal to develop innovative urban policies and solutions that place people and sustainability at the center of the development process, echoing the Urban Solutions launched by the UNESCO Cities Platform on the occasion of the World Cities Day 2021.

The collaborative spirit of the UCCN’s members is reflected in the publication UNESCO Creative Cities’ Response to COVID-19 in 2020. This year, too, the Network is collecting and disseminating information about the culture and creativity-based responses to COVID-19 that have been taken by members of the Network, which UNESCO will publish as part of its continued support to cities’ recovery from the pandemic.

See UNESCO website for the full list of new members; the new members in ASEM region are:

Belfast (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Music
Cannes (France) – Film
Cluj-Napoca (Romania) – Film
Como (Italy) – Crafts and Folk Art
Covilhã (Portugal) – Design
Gdynia (Poland) – Film
Gimhae (Republic of Korea) – Crafts and Folk Art
Gothenburg (Sweden) – Literature
Hamar (Norway) – Media Arts
Huai’an (China) – Gastronomy
Jakarta (Indonesia) – Literature
Kuching (Malaysia) – Gastronomy
Launceston (Australia) – Gastronomy
Manises (Spain) – Crafts and Folk Art
Modena (Italy) – Media Arts
Namur (Belgium) – Media Arts
Perth (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Crafts and Folk Art
Phetchaburi (Thailand) – Gastronomy
Rouen (France) – Gastronomy
Saint Petersburg (Russian Federation) – Gastronomy
Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal) – Gastronomy
Srinagar (India) – Crafts and Folk Art
Tallinn (Estonia) – Music
Thessaloniki (Greece) – Gastronomy
Usuki (Japan) – Gastronomy
Vilnius (Lithuania) – Literature
Weifang (China) – Crafts and Folk Art
Whanganui (New Zealand) – Design