News: Prime Minister has congratulated Lucknow after UNESCO has named it a Creative City of Gastronomy, recognising its famous and diverse food heritage.
About UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)
- The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- Launch and Objective: It was launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.
- List: As of November 1, 2025, 408 cities across more than 100 countries are part of this network which aims towards a common objective of placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans.
- Creative fields covered: The network covers seven creative fields namely –
- crafts and folk arts
- media arts
- film
- design
- gastronomy
- literature
- music
- By joining the Network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing partnerships involving the public and private sectors as well as civil society.
Indian Cities in the UCCN
- There are nine Indian cities as a part of the network. These are-
- Kozhikode (Literature)
- Gwalior (Music)
- Jaipur (Crafts and Folk Arts)
- Varanasi (Music)
- Chennai (Music)
- Mumbai (Film)
- Hyderabad (Gastronomy)
- Srinagar (Crafts and Folk Arts)
- Lukhnow (Gastronomy) – Latest to be included.
