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