# City of Music (UNESCO)

City of Music is a designation given by UNESCO to a number of cities around the world "that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development", to promote cooperation among them and to help establish further music-related activities in the cities. The network is a sub-network of the wider UNESCO Creative Cities Network, or UCCN. The UCCN launched in 2004, and has member cities in seven creative fields. The other fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, and Media Arts.

## Cities of Music values

The purpose of the UNESCO Creative City Network is to use creativity to drive the sustainable development of cities.

## About the cities

In March 2006, Seville was designated as the first City of Music. Bologna was named approximately two months later.
Seville has a "legendary Flamenco scene," and UNESCO lists Flamenco as an "intangible cultural heritage."
Hamamatsu is the founding city of musical instrument companies Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland. It has also an Museum of Musical Instruments.
Liverpool—"the city that spawned The Beatles"—earned its designation due to music's "place in the heart of the city's life." UNESCO also noted a "clearly defined" music, education, and skills strategy for young people.
Idanha-a-Nova "lives by the rhythm of music," Ghent is a "city full of culture," and Auckland is the "beating heart of New Zealand's music industry."
According to Lonely Planet, Daegu is a "pleasant and progressive place," and Leiria is an "agreeable mixture of medieval and modern".
Lonely Planet describes Adelaide as "sophisticated, cultured, and neat-casual". In 2024, after the historic pub and popular live music venue Crown and Anchor was threatened with demolition and then saved after extensive public backlash and protests, the state government introduced laws to protect live music venues in Adelaide city centre. Part of the justification for this was given as the city's status as a City of Music.

## Cities of Music

As of 2024, there are 75 Cities of Music. Nine countries have two Cities of Music, while six countries have three member cities. Colombia is the only country with four Cities of Music.
The Cities of Music are:
| City | Country | Year |
| Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 2021 |
| Adelaide | Australia | 2015 |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | 2017 |
| Amarante | Portugal | 2017 |
| Ambon | Indonesia | 2019 |
| Auckland | New Zealand | 2017 |
| Banja Luka | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 2023 |
| Batoumi | Georgia | 2021 |
| Belfast | United Kingdom | 2021 |
| Bissau | Guinea-Bissau | 2023 |
| Bogotá | Colombia | 2012 |
| Bologna | Italy | 2006 |
| Bolzano | Italy | 2023 |
| Brazzaville | Congo | 2013 |
| Brno | Czech Republic | 2017 |
| Bydgoszcz | Poland | 2023 |
| Caracas | Venezuela | 2023 |
| Chennai | India | 2017 |
| Concepción | Chile | 2023 |
| Da Lat | Vietnam | 2023 |
| Daegu | South Korea | 2017 |
| Essaouira | Morocco | 2019 |
| Frutillar | Chile | 2017 |
| Ghent | Belgium | 2009 |
| Glasgow | United Kingdom | 2008 |
| Gwalior | India | 2023 |
| Hamamatsu | Japan | 2014 |
| Hanover | Germany | 2014 |
| Havana | Cuba | 2019 |
| Huancayo | Peru | 2021 |
| Ibagué | Colombia | 2021 |
| Idanha-a-Nova | Portugal | 2015 |
| Ipoh | Malaysia | 2023 |
| Kansas City | United States | 2017 |
| Katowice | Poland | 2015 |
| Kazan | Russia | 2019 |
| Kharkiv | Ukraine | 2021 |
| Kingston | Jamaica | 2015 |
| Kinshasa | Democratic Republic of Congo | 2015 |
| Kırşehir | Turkey | 2019 |
| Leiria | Portugal | 2019 |
| Liverpool | United Kingdom | 2015 |
| Llíria | Spain | 2019 |
| London | Canada | 2021 |
| Mannheim | Germany | 2014 |
| Medellín | Colombia | 2015 |
| Metz | France | 2019 |
| Mexicali | Mexico | 2023 |
| Montreux | Switzerland | 2023 |
| Morelia | Mexico | 2017 |
| Norrköping | Sweden | 2017 |
| Pesaro | Italy | 2017 |
| Port Louis | Mauritius | 2021 |
| Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago | 2019 |
| Praia | Cape Verde | 2017 |
| Ramallah | Palestine | 2019 |
| Recife | Brazil | 2021 |
| Salvador | Brazil | 2015 |
| Sanandaj | Iran | 2019 |
| Şanlıurfa | Turkey | 2023 |
| Santiago de Cuba | Cuba | 2021 |
| Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic | 2019 |
| Seville | Spain | 2006 |
| Suphan Buri | Thailand | 2023 |
| Tallinn | Estonia | 2021 |
| Tongyeong | South Korea | 2015 |
| Toulouse | France | 2023 |
| Valledupar | Colombia | 2019 |
| Valparaíso | Chile | 2019 |
| Varanasi | India | 2015 |
| Varaždin | Croatia | 2023 |
| Veliky Novgorod | Russia | 2023 |
| Veszprém | Hungary | 2019 |
| Vranje | Serbia | 2019 |
| Xalapa | Mexico | 2021 |