Indian cities Mumbai and Hyderabad are among the 66 urban settlements designated as creative cities by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Thursday.
In a press statement, UNSECO said that Mumbai had been selected for its contribution in the world of film, and Hyderabad for gastronomy.
The designation came on World Cities' Day, celebrated on October 31, making the two cities part of the 246-member Organisation's Network of Creative Cities.
According to the UN body, the Network brings together cities that base their development on creativity, whether in music, arts and folk crafts, design, cinema, literature, digital arts or gastronomy. UNESCO creative cities commit to placing culture at the centre of their development strategies and to share their best practices.
"All over the world, these cities, each in its way, make culture the pillar, not an accessory, of their strategy," said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. "This favours political and social innovation and is particularly important for the young generations."
"On 31 October, UNESCO and officials from 24 cities around the world will celebrate World Cities Day mobilising the Organisation's different urban networks which focus not only on culture but also on access, inclusion, global citizenship education, defence of rights, economics and employment, as well as climate change prevention and resilience. The celebration, an occasion for "urban dialogues," will showcase exceptional cities that rely on innovation and collective intelligence to shape their future.
"In the framework of a partnership between UNESCO and Netexplo Observatory, the celebration will also recognise 10 cities which use state-of-the-art technological innovation at the service of citizens to transform cities around the world sustainably. Relying on a global network of 20 universities, ten cities will be honoured for their innovative use of digital technology in their socio-economic and environmental development," it said on Wednesday.
The new members of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network are:
For Gastronomy: Afyonkarahisar (Turkey), Arequipa (Peru), Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Bendigo (Australia), Merida (Mexico), Overstrand Hermanus (South Africa), Portoviejo (Ecuador), and Yangzhou (China)
For music: Ambon (Indonesia), Essaouira (Morocco), Havana (Cuba) - Music, Kazan (Russian Federation), Kirsehir (Turkey), Leiria (Portugal), Lliria (Spain), Metz (France), Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago), Ramallah (Palestine),Sanandaj (Iran), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Valledupar (Colombia), Valparaíso (Chile), Veszprém (Hungary), Vranje (Serbia).
For Literature: Angouleme (France), Beirut (Lebanon), Exeter (United Kingdom), Kuhmo (Finland), Lahore (Pakistan), Leeuwarden (Netherlands), Nanjing (China), Odessa (Ukraine), Slemani (Iraq), Wonju (Republic of Korea), Wroclaw (Poland)
For Crafts and Folk Art : Aregua (Paraguay), - Gastronomy, Ayacucho (Peru), Ballarat (Australia), Bandar Abbas (Iran), Biella (Italy), Caldas da Rainha (Portugal), Jinju (Republic of Korea), Kargopol (Russian Federation), Sharjah (United Arab Emirates), Sukhothai (Thailand), Trinidad (Cuba), and Viljandi (Estonia).
For Design: Asahikawa (Japan), , Baku (Azerbaijan) , Bangkok (Thailand) , Cebu City (Philippines) - Design, Fortaleza (Brazil), Hanoi (Vietnam), Muharraq (Bahrain), Querétaro (Mexico), and San Jose (Costa Rica).
For Media Arts: Karlsruhe (Germany), Santiago de Cali (Colombia) and Viborg (Denmark).
For Film: Potsdam (Germany), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Valladolid (Spain) and Wellington (New Zealand).