Kozhikode in Kerala and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh have been added to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN) for their role in literature and music, respectively. UNESCO made the announcement on its official website on World Cities Day, October 31. The two were among the 55 new cities to join the network.
Gwalior was listed in the 'Music' category as it has a rich musical legacy. Kozhikode was included in the category of literature as it is a permanent home for the annual Kerala Literature Festival as well as a number of other book festivals. Apart from this, several well-known literary figures call Kozhikode home. It also has various notable media firms, publishing houses, and libraries.
The new members of the UCCN network are Asaba under Film, Ashgabat under Design, Banja Luka under Music, Battambang under Gastronomy, Bissau under Music, Bolzano under Music, Bremen under Literature, Buffalo City under Literature, Bukhara under Crafts and Folk Art, Bydgoszcz under Music, Caen under Media Arts, Caracas under Music, Casablanca under Media Arts, Castelo Branco under Crafts and Folk Art, Cetinje under Design, Chaozhou under Gastronomy, Chiang Rai under Design, Chongqing under Design, Concepción under Music, Da Lat under Music, Fribourg under Gastronomy, Gangneung under Gastronomy, Granada under Design, Gwalior under Music, Herakleion under Gastronomy, Hobart under Literature, Hoi An under Crafts and Folk Art, Iasi under Literature, Iloilo City under Gastronomy, Ipoh under Music, Kathmandu under Film.
Kozhikode under Literature, Kutaisi under Literature, Mexicali under Music, Montecristi under Crafts and Folk Art, Montreux under Music, Nkongsamba under Gastronomy, Novi Sad under Media Arts, Okayama under Literature, Ouarzazate under Film, Oulu under Media Arts, Penedo under Film, Rio de Janeiro under Literature, Şanlıurfa under Music, Suphanburi under Music, Surakarta under Crafts and Folk Art, Taif under Literature, Toulouse under Music, Tukums under Literature, Ulaanbaatar under Crafts and Folk Art, Umngeni Howick under Crafts and Folk Art, Valencia under Design, Varaždin under Music, Veliky Novgorod under Music, and Vicente Lopez under Film.
The UCCN concept was developed in 2004 to encourage cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a key factor for sustainable urban development. This network presently includes about 300 towns from around the world, and they strive towards a shared goal: putting creativity and cultural industries at the centre of their local development plans while actively working at the international level.
Apart from Kozhikode and Gwalior, the UCCN network includes Varanasi (music), Srinagar (crafts and folk arts), and Chennai (music). In 2019, the city of Hyderabad made it to the Creative Cities list in the gastronomy category. Read more about it here. The City of Gastronomy project by UNESCO is under the umbrella of the wider Creative Cities Network. The idea is to organise member cities into seven creative fields Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music.
From architecture to music to sports, from education to commerce to tourism, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh wears many hats. Along with its historical neighbour Orchha, the city has also been listed under the UNESCO World Heritage List.
