Design Cities (UNESCO)

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 44 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]
Daugavpils	Latvia	2025 [16]
Detroit	United States	2015 [17]
Dubai	United Arab Emirates	2018 [18]
Dundee	United Kingdom	2014 [19]
Fortaleza	Brazil	2019 [20]
Geelong	Australia	2017 [21]
Granada	Nicaragua	2023 [3]
Graz	Austria	2011 [22]
Hanoi	Vietnam	2019 [23]
Helsinki	Finland	2014 [24]
Istanbul	Turkey	2017 [25]
Kaunas	Lithuania	2015 [26]
Kobe	Japan	2008 [27]
Kolding	Denmark	2017 [28]
Kortrijk	Belgium	2017 [29]
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	2025 [16]
La Spezia	Italy	2025 [16]
Medellín	Colombia	2018 [30]
Mexico City	Mexico	2017 [31]
Montreal	Canada	2006 [32]
Muharraq	Bahrain	2019 [33]
Nagoya	Japan	2008 [34]
Puebla	Mexico	2015 [35]
Querétaro	Mexico	2019 [36]
Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	2025 [16]
Saint-Etienne	France	2010 [37]
San José	Costa Rica	2019 [38]
Seoul	South Korea	2010 [39]
Shanghai	China	2010 [40]
Shenzhen	China	2008 [41]
Singapore	Singapore	2015 [42]
Turin	Italy	2014 [43]
Valencia	Spain	2023 [3]
Whanganui	New Zealand	2022 [44] [45]
Wuhan	China	2017 [46]

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

1. "The Creative Cities Network - A Global Platform for Local Endeavour" (PDF). UNESCO. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-11-02.
2. "Asahikawa". 30 October 2019.
3. "55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day" . Retrieved 31 October 2023.
4. "Baku". 30 October 2019.
5. "Bandung". Archived from the original on 2017-04-03.
6. "Bangkok". 30 October 2019.
7. "Beijing".
8. "Berlin".
9. "Bilbao".
10. "Brasilia". January 2018.
11. "Budapest". 14 December 2015.
12. "Buenos Aires".
13. "Cape Town".
14. "Cebu City". 30 October 2019.
15. "Curitiba".
16. "On World Cities Day 2025, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network welcomes 58 new member cities". UNESCO. 30 October 2025. Archived from the original on 5 November 2025. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
17. "Detroit".
18. "Dubai".
19. "Dundee".
20. "Fortaleza". 30 October 2019.
21. "Geelong". Archived from the original on 2019-03-01.
22. "Graz".
23. "Hanoi". 30 October 2019.
24. "Helsinki".
25. "Istanbul". Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
26. "Kaunas".
27. "Kobe".
28. "Kolding".
29. "Kortrijk".
30. "Medellín, la ciudad que se transformó | Casa & Diseño".
31. "Mexico".
32. "Montreal".
33. "Muharraq". 30 October 2019.
34. "Nagoya".
35. "Puebla". Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
36. "Querétaro". 30 October 2019.
37. "Saint-Etienne".
38. "San José".
39. "Seoul".
40. "Shanghai".
41. "Shenzhen".
42. "Singapore".
43. "Torino". Archived from the original on 2019-07-23.
44. "Whanganui".^{[ permanent dead link ]}
45. "Whanganui becomes NZ's only UNESCO City of Design". RNZ. 9 November 2021.
46. "Wuhan".