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 a 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.
Gwalior's Mankutuhal, a historic 15th century treatise on music was complied in 1488 which later become fundamental structure for Hindustani classical music. Dhrupad was first invented in Gwalior by Man Singh. It is globally regarded as the birthplace of the first Hindustani classical gharana, the Gwalior Gharana, the oldest and one of the most influential schools of Hindustani classical music. This gharana laid down the structured form of khayal singing, which remains central to classical performances across India today. It has India's only music university named as Raja Man Singh Tomar Music University, dedicated to Indian Classical Music and other art forms along with the oldest music college in India the Madhav Music College, established in 1918. City also has several music colleges and academies solely dedicated to 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 YearAbu Dhabi2021 Adelaide 2015 Almaty 2017 Amarante 2017 Ambon 2019 Auckland 2017Banja Luka2023Batoumi2021Belfast2021Bissau2023 Bogotá 2012 Bologna 2006Bolzano2023 Brazzaville 2013 Brno 2017Bydgoszcz2023Caracas2023 Chennai 2017Concepción2023Da Lat2023 Daegu 2017 Essaouira 2019 Évian-les-Bains 2025 Frutillar 2017 Ghent 2009 Glasgow 2008Gwalior2023 Hamamatsu 2014 Hanover 2014 Havana 2019Huancayo2021Ibagué2021 Idanha-a-Nova 2015Ipoh2023 Kansas City 2017 Katowice 2015 Kazan 2019Kharkiv2021 Kingston 2015 Kinshasa 2015 Kırşehir 2019 Kisumu 2025 Korhogo 2025 Kyiv 2025 Lalitpur 2025 Leiria 2019 Liège 2025 Liverpool 2015 Llíria 2019 London 2021 Mannheim 2014 Medellín 2015 Metz 2019Mexicali2023Montreux2023 Morelia 2017 New Orleans 2025 Nikšić 2025 Norrköping 2017 Pesaro 2017Port Louis2021 Port of Spain 2019 Praia 2017 Ramallah 2019Recife2021 Salvador 2015 Sanandaj 2019Şanlıurfa2023Santiago de Cuba2021 Santo Domingo 2019 Seville 2006Suphan Buri2023 Tallinn 2021 Tongyeong 2015Toulouse2023 Valledupar 2019 Valparaíso 2019 Varanasi 2015Varaždin2023Veliky Novgorod2023 Veszprém 2019 Vranje 2019 Wuxi 2025Xalapa2021
See also City of Gastronomy City of Literature City of Film Design Cities (UNESCO) City of Crafts and Folk Arts City of Media Arts
Notes
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