Launched in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The network aims to foster international cooperation between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and enhanced influence of cultural in the world.

The following cities are new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network:

• Bilbao (Spain) – Design
• Busan (Republic of Korea) – Film
• Curitiba (Brazil) – Design
• Dakar (Senegal) – Media Arts
• Dundee (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Design
• Dunedin (New Zealand) – Literature
• Florianopolis (Brazil) – Gastronomy
• Galway (Ireland) - Film
• Granada (Spain) – Literature
• Gwangju (Republic of Korea) – Media Arts
• Hamamatsu (Japan) – Music
• Hanover (Germany) – Music
• Heidelberg (Germany) – Literature
• Helsinki (Finland) – Design
• Jacmel (Haiti) – Crafts & Folk Arts
• Jingdezhen (China) – Crafts & Folk Arts
• Linz (Austria) – Media Arts
• Mannheim (Germany) – Music
• Nassau (Bahamas) – Crafts & Folk Arts
• Pekalongan (Indonesia) – Crafts & Folk Arts
• Prague (Czech Republic) – Literature
• Shunde (China) – Gastronomy
• Sofia (Bulgaria) – Film
• Suzhou (China) – Crafts & Folk Arts
• Tel Aviv-Yafo (Israel) – Media Arts
• Tsuruoka (Japan) – Gastronomy
• Turin (Italy) – Design
• York (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Media Arts

“The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a tremendous tool for cooperation, it reflects our commitment to support an amazing creative and innovative potential to broaden the avenues of sustainable development,” said UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova.

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 plans.

The Network covers seven thematic areas: Craft and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music. It aims to promote international cooperation and encourage the sharing of experiences and resources in order to promote local development through culture and creativity.

With these new designations, the number of UNESCO Creative Cities Network members now totals 69.

The next meeting of the Creative City Network is scheduled for May 2015 in Kanazawa (Japan).

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More information on the Creative Cities Network

Media Contact: Lucía Iglesias, UNESCO Press Service. Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 02, l.iglesias(at)unesco.org