KOZHIKODE: Kozhikode, the venue of choice for the Kerala Literature Festival and several book fests, was named the ‘City of Literature’ by the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN) on Tuesday, making it the first such city in India.
The announcement, which coincided with World Cities Day, named 54 other cities besides Kozhikode as ‘Creative Cities’. Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh has been named the ‘City of Music.’
A statement by Unesco said the new cities were acknowledged for their strong commitment to harness culture and creativity as part of their development strategies, and display innovative practices in human-centred urban planning.
With the latest additions, UCCN now counts 350 cities in over 100 countries, representing seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.
The newly-designated ‘Creative Cities’ have been invited to participate in the 2024 UCCN annual conference scheduled to be held from July 1 to 5, 2024 in Braga, Portugal. The theme of the event will be “Bringing Youth to the table for the next decade.”
The release said the newly-designated cities will cooperate with UCCN members to “strengthen their resilience in the face of evolving threats like climate change, rising inequality, as well as rapid urbanisation, with 68% of the world’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050.”