On World Cities Day, the UNESCO announced 55 new cities which joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Ulaanbaatar city became City of Crafts and Folk Art of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

The new cities were designated by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, and she emphasized that “The cities in our Creative Cities Network are leading the way when it comes to enhancing access to culture and galvanizing the power of creativity for urban resilience and development”.

The new cities were acknowledged for their strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity as part of their development strategies, and demonstrating innovative practices in human-centered urban planning.

The Creative Cities Network now includes 350 cities in more than a hundred countries around the world, and represents seven creative areas: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.

According to statistics, around 68% of the world’s population predicted to live in urban areas by 2050. The newly designated cities will work together with the network members to boost their resilience in the face of evolving threats such as climate change, rising inequality and rapid urbanization.

The Annual Conference of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network will be held in Braga, Portugal on 1–5 July 2024, and newly joined cities are invited to participate in the conference.