In 2004, Edinburgh was the first city to join the UNESCO Creative Cities network.  There are currently 32 cities appointed in seven thematic areas, as listed below.

The UNESCO Creative Cities titles are permanent, non-competitive designations intended to recognise:

• Past - a strong cultural heritage
• Present - vibrant and diverse contemporary cultural scene
• Future - aspirations and vision to develop cultural potential 

The Creative Cities will work together, in particular with cities in their own creative area, to:

• Highlight each city's cultural assets
• Share knowledge within the network
• Build local capacity and train local creative participants in business skills
• Promote diverse cultural products
• Cultivate innovation through exchange of experience and expertise
• Make creativity an essential element of economic and social development

UNESCO Cities of Design

Find out more about the current Cities of Design: Berlin, Buenos Aires, Graz, Kobe, Montreal, Nagoya, Saint-Etienne, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Seoul.

UNESCO Cities of Crafts and Folk Art

Find out more about the current Cities of Crafts and Folk Art: Aswan, Icheon, Kanazawa, Santa Fe and Hangzhou.

UNESCO Cities of Literature

Find out more about the current Cities of Literature: Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa City, Dublin, Reykjavik and Norwich.

UNESCO Cities of Media Arts

Find out more about the current City of Media Arts: Lyon.

UNESCO Cities of Music

Find out more about the current Cities of Music: Bologna, Gent, Glasgow, Seville and Bogota.

UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy

Find out more about the current Cities of Gastronomy: Chengdu, Ostersund and Popayan.