UNESCO Creative Cities Network 2025 New Members List (Updated)

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2025 is making headlines for more reasons than just numbers. A total of 58 new cities joined, taking the overall count to 408 cities across more than 100 countries.

What’s new this year? For the first time, architecture was added as a creative field, alongside crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music. Cities like Bistrita, Quito, Lusail, and Kashan proudly represent this fresh category, showing that urban design and heritage have real influence on our daily lives.

From big names like São Paulo (Film) and New Orleans (Music) to less familiar gems like Sifnos (Crafts and Folk Art) and Nan (Crafts and Folk Art), every listing captures local culture in a concrete way. With this expansion, UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay says the network is all about culture leading development, encouraging creativity to drive social bonds and new investments.

Which new cities joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2025, and in what fields?

The 2025 list includes a fascinating blend of big cities and smaller regions. Here’s a selection from the official roster, sorted by creative field:

• Literature: Aberystwyth, Abuja, Celje, Conakry, Dumaguete City, Gdańsk, Kahramanmaraş, Lund, San Luis Potosí, Tangier
• Music: Evian, Kisumu, Korhogo, Kyiv, Lalitpur, Liège, New Orleans, Nikšić, Wuxi
• Gastronomy: Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Cuenca, Kelowna, Lucknow, Manizales, Matosinhos, Quanzhou, San Javier de Loncomilla, Songkhla, Zaragoza
• Crafts and Folk Art: Andenne, Bobo-Dioulasso, Cheongju City, Echizen City, Faenza, Hebron, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Lubango, Masaya, Nan, Ponorogo, Safi, Sarchí, Sifnos
• Film: Giza, Ho Chi Minh City, Quezon City, São Paulo
• Design: Daugavpils, Kuala Lumpur, La Spezia, Riyadh
• Architecture: Bistrita, Kashan, Lusail, Quito, Rovaniemi
• Media Arts: Malang, Varna

Each city earned its place for unique projects, from Lagos’s writers’ workshops to São Paulo’s inclusive cinema networks. Abuja, for example, stood out for its literacy programs, including Creative Writers Empowerment Workshops and “Literacy by Radio,” which helps spread reading culture far and wide.

How does joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2025 benefit these cities and their communities?

The impact goes beyond the title. Cities that join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2025 are expected to launch or scale up local initiatives in culture, arts, education, and innovation. For example, members commit to sharing their success stories with the rest of the world, creating more spaces for local talent, and making their cities better places to live through art-driven policies. UNESCO reports that cities like São Paulo are already making progress, citing new cinema networks, while new film cities like Giza and Ho Chi Minh City are investing in digital storytelling. In gastronomy, places such as Lucknow and Kelowna are drawing attention to regional flavors and sustainable food ideas. Building on the momentum of the MONDIACULT 2025 Conference, this year’s cities are now tasked with showing how creativity and culture can truly be a ‘global public good’, aiming for positive, real-world outcomes for everyone.