Modena and Como join UNESCO list of Creative Cities

PARIS, NOVEMBER 8 – Modena and Como in Italy are among 49 cities that 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”, said 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. In Italy Modena and Como join Biella, Carrara and Fabriano for craftsmanship, Alba, Bergamo and Parma for food, Bologna and Pesaro for music, Rome for cinema, Turin for design and Milan for literature.

The Italian National Commission for UNESCO had approved the candidatures of the two cities in June. This year the call for bids foresaw that countries could support only two nominations, in two different creative sectors among those considered by the initiative. The Creative Cities Network was launched in 2004 to encourage cooperation among those cities that recognize creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable development at an economic, social, cultural and environmental level.

“Italy is confirmed as a country of great artistic and cultural value recognized throughout the world,” said the Undersecretary for Culture, Lucia Borgonzoni: “After the UNESCO decisions on Montecatini Terme, Padua with Giotto, the fourteenth century and the Scrovegni Chapel and the arcades of Bologna, only this year Italy has seen recognized not one, but two UNESCO creative cities, which thus enter into the series of goals that, before the end of the year, I am sure, will be enriched with new certificates. The real challenge, now, must be to make the best use of these awards, not only from a cultural point of view, but also economic and employment. Culture must and can be the great engine of recovery”.

Thanks to the designation of Modena as creative city for media Italy is now represented in all seven creative sectors of the UNESCO initiative. For Como, enrollment in the Network is a recognition of the textile sector, especially in the production and processing of silk, strongly rooted in the history and economy of the city. The candidacy dossier also paid great attention to the issues of environmental sustainability, put to the test by the phenomenon of “fast fashion”, and gender equality, considering the high number of women employed in the sector.

Here are the new Creative Cities:

Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) – Music
Batumi (Georgia) – Music
Belfast (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Music
Bida (Nigeria) – Handicrafts and Folk Art
Bohicon (Benin) – Gastronomy
Buraidah (Saudi Arabia) – Gastronomy
Bursa (Turkey) – Crafts and Folk Art
Campina Grande (Brazil) – Media Arts
Cannes (France) – Film
Cluj-Napoca (Romania) – Film
Como (Italy) – Craft and Folk Art
Covilhã (Portugal) – Design
Doha (Qatar) – Design
Gdynia (Poland) – Film
Gimhae (Republic of Korea) – Craft and Folk Art
Göteborg (Sweden) – Literature
Hamar (Norway) – Media Arts
Huai’an (China) – Gastronomy
Huancayo (Peru) – Music
Ibagué (Colombia) – Music
Jakarta (Indonesia) – Literature
Kermanshah (Iran, Islamic Republic of) – Gastronomy
Kharkiv (Ukraine) – Music
Kuching (Malaysia) – Gastronomy
Lankaran (Azerbaijan) – Gastronomy
Launceston (Australia) – Gastronomy
London (Canada) – Music
Manises (Spain) – Crafts and Folk Art
Modena (Italy) – Media Arts
Nakuru (Kenya) – Crafts and Folk Art
Namur (Belgium) – Media Arts
Pasto (Colombia) – Crafts and Folk Art
Perth (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Crafts and Folk Art
Phetchaburi (Thailand) – Gastronomy
Port Louis (Mauritius) – Music
Recife (Brazil) – Music
Rouen (France) – Gastronomy
Saint Petersburg (Russian Federation) – Gastronomy
Santa Maria da Feira (Portugal) – Gastronomy
Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) – Music
Srinagar (India) – Crafts and Folk Art
Tallinn (Estonia) – Music
Tbilisi (Georgia) – Media Arts
Thessaloniki (Greece) – Gastronomy
Usuki (Japan) – Gastronomy
Vilnius (Lithuania) – Literature
Weifang (China) – Handicraft and Folk Art
Whanganui (New Zealand) – Design
Xalapa (Mexico) – Music (@OnuItalia)