UNESCO's Design Cities project is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The Network launched in 2004, and has member cities in seven creative fields. The other fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Music, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, and Media Arts.

Criteria for UNESCO Design Cities

To be approved as a Design City, cities need to meet a number of criteria set by UNESCO.^[1]

Designated UNESCO Design Cities share similar characteristics such as having an established design industry; cultural landscape maintained by design and the built environment (architecture, urban planning, public spaces, monuments, transportation); design schools and design research centers; practicing groups of designers with a continuous activity at a local and national level; experience in hosting fairs, events and exhibits dedicated to design; opportunity for local designers and urban planners to take advantage of local materials and urban/natural conditions; design-driven creative industries such as architecture and interiors, fashion and textiles, jewelry and accessories, interaction design, urban design, sustainable design.

There are 40 Cities of Design:

City	Country	Year of Inscription
Asahikawa	Japan	2019[2]
Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	2023[3]
Baku	Azerbaijan	2019[4]
Bandung	Indonesia	2015[5]
Bangkok	Thailand	2019[6]
Beijing	China	2012[7]
Berlin	Germany	2006[8]
Bilbao	Spain	2014[9]
Brasília	Brazil	2017[10]
Budapest	Hungary	2015[11]
Buenos Aires	Argentina	2005[12]
Cape Town	South Africa	2017[13]
Cebu City	Philippines	2019[14]
Cetinje	Montenegro	2023[3]
Chiang Rai	Thailand	2023[3]
Chongqing	China	2023[3]
Curitiba	Brazil	2014[15]
Detroit	USA	2015[16]
Dubai	UAE	2018[17]
Dundee	United Kingdom	2014[18]
Fortaleza	Brazil	2019[19]
Geelong	Australia	2017[20]
Granada	Nicaragua	2023[3]
Graz	Austria	2011[21]
Hanoi	Vietnam	2019[22]
Helsinki	Finland	2014[23]
Istanbul	Turkey	2017[24]
Kaunas	Lithuania	2015[25]
Kobe	Japan	2008[26]
Kolding	Denmark	2017[27]
Kortrijk	Belgium	2017[28]
Medellín	Colombia	2018[29]
Mexico City	Mexico	2017[30]
Montreal	Canada	2006[31]
Muharraq	Bahrain	2019[32]
Nagoya	Japan	2008[33]
Puebla	Mexico	2015[34]
Querétaro	Mexico	2019[35]
Saint-Etienne	France	2010[36]
San José	Costa Rica	2019[37]
Seoul	South Korea	2010[38]
Shanghai	China	2010[39]
Shenzhen	China	2008[40]
Singapore	Singapore	2015[41]
Turin	Italy	2014[42]
Valencia	Spain	2023[3]
Whanganui	New Zealand	2022[43]
Wuhan	China	2017[44]

See also

• City of Crafts and Folk Arts
• City of Film
• City of Gastronomy
• City of Literature
• City of Music
• City of Media Arts

References