UNESCO Creative Cities Network
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 and now consists of 295 cities across 7 designations. These designations are Craft and Folk Art; Design; Film; Gastronomy; Literature; Media Arts and Music. The member cities that form part of the Network come from all continents and regions with different income levels and populations. They work together towards a common mission: placing creativity and the creative economy at the core of their urban development plans to make cities safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Cities of Literature are a global network of 42 cities who specialise in Literature. The UNESCO designation ‘City of Literature’ recognises excellence and places an obligation on cities to nurture and support their artform and collaborate internationally. This should be done by sharing best practice, supporting freedom of speech and instigating projects that ensure literature reaches as wide and diverse an audience as possible, locally and internationally.
In October 2023, 11 new cities joined the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network. Bremen (Germany), Buffalo City (South Africa), Hobart (Australia), Iasi (Romania), Kozhikode (India), Kutaisi (Georgia), Lyon (France), Okayama City (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Taif (Saudi Arabia) and Tukums (Latvia).
More details on the Creative Cities Network and how a city can apply to become part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is available here.
UNESCO Cities of Literature

Edinburgh
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2004

Melbourne
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2008

Iowa City
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2008

Dublin
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2010

Reykjavik
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2011

Norwich
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2012

Krakow
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2013

Prague
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2014

Dunedin
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2014

Heidelberg
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2014

Granada
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2014

Baghdad
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Barcelona
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Ljubljana
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Lviv
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Montevideo
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Nottingham
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Óbidos
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Tartu
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Ulyanovsk
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2015

Bucheon
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Durban
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Lillehammer
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Manchester
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Milan
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Quebec City
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Seattle
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Utrecht
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2017

Angouleme
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Beirut
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Exeter
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Kuhmo
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Lahore
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Leeuwarden
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Nanjing
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Odessa
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Slemani
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Wonju
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Wroclaw
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2019

Vilnius
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2021

Jakarta
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2021

Gothenburg
A UNESCO City of Literature since 2021