Delhi: On the occasion of World Cities Day 2019, celebrated on 31 October, UNESCO announced that the cities of Mumbai and Hyderabad are joining the UNESCO network of Creative Cities. Mumbai has been designated a Creative city of film and Hyderabad a Creative city of gastronomy. In India, they join Chennai and Varanasi, UNESCO Cities of music, and Jaipur, UNESCO City of crafts and folk arts. Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel has congratulated the people of Mumbai and Hyderabad for this unique distinction.
UCCN,created in 2004, is a network of cities which are thriving, active centres of cultural activities in their respective countries. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network now counts a total of 246 cities.
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 network covers seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Arts, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
Previously, 3 Indian cities were recognized as members of UCCN, namely-
Jaipur-Crafts and Folk Arts(2015)
Varanasi-Creative city of Music (2015)
Chennai-Creative city of Music(2017)
Mumbai and Hyderabad join the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities
