Wikipedia

City of Music (UNESCO)

City of Music is a designation given by UNESCO to a number of cities around the world "that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development", to promote cooperation among them and to help establish further music-related activities in the cities.[1] The network is a sub-network of the wider UNESCO Creative Cities Network, or UCCN. The UCCN launched in 2004, and has member cities in seven creative fields. The other fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, and Media Arts.[2]

Adelaide Festival Centre in South Australia

Cities of Music values

edit
Korenlei and Graslei in Ghent, Belgium

The purpose of the UNESCO Creative City Network is to use creativity to drive the sustainable development of cities.

About the cities

edit
Plaza de España in Seville, Spain

In March 2006, Seville was designated as the first City of Music. Bologna was named approximately two months later.[3]

Seville has a "legendary Flamenco scene," and UNESCO lists Flamenco as an "intangible cultural heritage."[4]

Hamamatsu is the founding city of musical instrument companies Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland. It has also a Museum of Musical Instruments.[5]

Liverpool—"the city that spawned The Beatles"—earned its designation due to music's "place in the heart of the city's life." UNESCO also noted a "clearly defined" music, education, and skills strategy for young people.[6]

Idanha-a-Nova "lives by the rhythm of music," Ghent is a "city full of culture," and Auckland is the "beating heart of New Zealand's music industry."[7][8][9]

According to Lonely Planet, Daegu is a "pleasant and progressive place," and Leiria is an "agreeable mixture of medieval and modern".[10][11]

Lonely Planet describes Adelaide as "sophisticated, cultured, and neat-casual".[12] In 2024, after the historic pub and popular live music venue Crown and Anchor was threatened with demolition and then saved after extensive public backlash and protests, the state government introduced laws to protect live music venues in Adelaide city centre. Part of the justification for this was given as the city's status as a City of Music.[13] Gwalior is widely regarded as the birthplace of the Gwalior Gharana, the oldest and one of the most influential schools of Hindustani classical music. This gharana laid down the structured form of khayal singing, which remains central to classical performances across India today.[14] It has India's only music university named as Raja Man Singh Tomar Music University, dedicated to Indian Classical Music and other art forms along with the oldest music college in India the Madhav Music College[15], established in 1918. City also has several music colleges and academies solely dedicated to music.

Cities of Music

edit

As of 2024, there are 75 Cities of Music. Nine countries have two Cities of Music,[a] while six countries have three member cities.[b] Colombia is the only country with four Cities of Music.

The Cities of Music are:

City Country Year
Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 2021[16]
Adelaide Australia 2015[17]
Almaty Kazakhstan 2017[18]
Amarante Portugal 2017[19]
Ambon Indonesia 2019[20]
Auckland New Zealand 2017[9]
Banja Luka Bosnia & Herzegovina 2023[21]
Batoumi Georgia 2021[22]
Belfast  United Kingdom 2021[23]
Bissau Guinea-Bissau 2023[21]
Bogotá Colombia 2012[24]
Bologna Italy 2006[25]
Bolzano Italy 2023[21]
Brazzaville Congo 2013[26]
Brno Czech Republic 2017[27]
Bydgoszcz Poland 2023[21]
Caracas Venezuela 2023[21]
Chennai India 2017[28]
Concepción Chile 2023[29]
Da Lat Vietnam 2023[21]
Daegu South Korea 2017[30]
Essaouira Morocco 2019[31]
Évian-les-Bains France 2025[32]
Frutillar Chile 2017[33]
Ghent Belgium 2009[8]
Glasgow United Kingdom 2008[34]
Gwalior India 2023[21]
Hamamatsu Japan 2014[5]
Hanover Germany 2014[35]
Havana Cuba 2019[36]
Huancayo Peru 2021[37]
Ibagué Colombia 2021[38]
Idanha-a-Nova Portugal 2015[7]
Ipoh Malaysia 2023[21]
Kansas City United States 2017[39]
Katowice Poland 2015[40]
Kazan Russia 2019[41]
Kharkiv Ukraine 2021
Kingston Jamaica 2015[42]
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo 2015[43]
Kırşehir Turkey 2019[44]
Kisumu Kenya 2025[32]
Korhogo Ivory Coast 2025[32]
Kyiv Ukraine 2025[32]
Lalitpur   Nepal 2025[32]
Leiria Portugal 2019[45]
Liège Belgium 2025[32]
Liverpool United Kingdom 2015[46]
Llíria Spain 2019[47]
London Canada 2021[48]
Mannheim Germany 2014[49]
Medellín Colombia 2015[50]
Metz France 2019[51]
Mexicali Mexico 2023[21]
Montreux  Switzerland 2023[21]
Morelia Mexico 2017[52]
New Orleans United States 2025[32]
Nikšić Montenegro 2025[32]
Norrköping Sweden 2017[53]
Pesaro Italy 2017[54]
Port Louis Mauritius 2021[55]
Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago 2019[56]
Praia Cape Verde 2017[57]
Ramallah Palestine 2019[58]
Recife Brazil 2021[59]
Salvador Brazil 2015[60]
Sanandaj Iran 2019[61]
Şanlıurfa Turkey 2023[21]
Santiago de Cuba Cuba 2021[62]
Santo Domingo Dominican Republic 2019[63]
Seville Spain 2006[64]
Suphan Buri Thailand 2023[21]
Tallinn Estonia 2021[65]
Tongyeong South Korea 2015[66]
Toulouse France 2023[21]
Valledupar Colombia 2019[67]
Valparaíso Chile 2019[68]
Varanasi India 2015[69]
Varaždin Croatia 2023[21]
Veliky Novgorod Russia 2023[21]
Veszprém Hungary 2019[70]
Vranje Serbia 2019[71]
Wuxi China 2025[32]
Xalapa Mexico 2021[72]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ↑ Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey.
  2. ↑ Chile, India, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

References

edit
  1. ↑ "The Cities of Music". UNESCO Cities of Music. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Cities Join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network".
  3. ↑ "UNESCO's Cities of Music". 22 September 2014. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "Seville's Legendary Flamenco Scene".
  5. 1 2 "Hamamatsu".
  6. ↑ "Liverpool receives 'City of Music' honour from UNESCO". BBC News. 12 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Idanha-a-Nova".
  8. 1 2 "Ghent".
  9. 1 2 "Auckland".
  10. ↑ "Daegu".
  11. ↑ "Leiria".
  12. ↑ "Adelaide".
  13. ↑ Eccles, David; Karakulak, Helen (19 August 2024). "Cranker saved from demolition under historic deal and legislation". InDaily. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  14. ↑ UNESCO, Gwalior (2023). "Gwalior". UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Retrieved 12 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ Gwalior, District (28 May 2026). "Madhav Music College". Madhav Music College. Retrieved 26 May 2026. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "Abu Dhabi". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Adelaide". Creative Cities Network. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Almaty".
  19. ↑ "Amarante".
  20. ↑ "Ambon".
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day". Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  22. ↑ "Batumi". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  23. ↑ "Belfast". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  24. ↑ "Bogotá".
  25. ↑ "Bologna".
  26. ↑ "Brazzaville".
  27. ↑ "Brno".
  28. ↑ "Chennai".
  29. ↑ "Concepción". UNESCO Cities of Music. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  30. ↑ "Daegu".
  31. ↑ "Essaouira".
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "On World Cities Day 2025, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network welcomes 58 new member cities". UNESCO. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  33. ↑ "Frutillar".
  34. ↑ "Glasgow".
  35. ↑ "Hanover".
  36. ↑ "Havana".
  37. ↑ "Huancayo". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  38. ↑ "Ibagué". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  39. ↑ "Kansas City". UNESCO. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
  40. ↑ "Katowice".
  41. ↑ "Kazan".
  42. ↑ "Kingston".
  43. ↑ "Kinshasa".
  44. ↑ "Kırşehir".
  45. ↑ "Leiria".
  46. ↑ "Liverpool".
  47. ↑ "Llíria".
  48. ↑ "London, Ont. Is Canada's first UNESCO City of Music". 8 November 2021.
  49. ↑ "Mannheim".
  50. ↑ "Medellín".
  51. ↑ "Metz".
  52. ↑ "Morelia".
  53. ↑ "Norrköping".
  54. ↑ "Pesaro".
  55. ↑ "Port Louis". UNESCO Cities of Music. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  56. ↑ "Port of Spain".
  57. ↑ "Praia".
  58. ↑ "Ramallah".
  59. ↑ "Recife". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  60. ↑ "Salvador".
  61. ↑ "Sanandaj".
  62. ↑ "Santiago de Cuba". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  63. ↑ "Santo Domingo".
  64. ↑ "Seville".
  65. ↑ "Tallinn".
  66. ↑ "Tongyeong".
  67. ↑ "Valledupar".
  68. ↑ "Valparaíso".
  69. ↑ "Varanasi".
  70. ↑ "Veszprém".
  71. ↑ "Vranje".
  72. ↑ "Xalapa". UNESCO Cities of Music. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=City_of_Music_(UNESCO)&oldid=1356698141"