UNESCO recognizes Iloilo City as Creative City of Gastronomy
MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included Iloilo City in its expanding Creative Cities Network.
In celebration of World Cities Day last October 31, 55 cities, including Iloilo City, joined the Network, which now stands at 350 member-cities in over a hundred countries.
The 55 cities were "acknowledged for their strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity as part of their development strategies and displaying innovative practices in human-centered urban planning."
All Network members are expected to cooperate with one another to strengthen resilience against climate change, rising inequality and rapid urbanization.
Iloilo City was recognized as a Creative City of Gastronomy, a first for the Philippines.
City mayor Jerry Treñas shared in a statement his pride in Iloilo City's newest recognition, calling it a "result of teamwork of hardworking city officials, employees and consultants."
Related: Iloilo City seen as Philippines top tourist destination
Other creative fields are crafts and folk art, design, film, literature, media arts and music.
Some familiar cities in the new additions include Brazil's Rio de Janeiro and New York's Buffalo City. Other cities cited were Hobart in Australia for literature, the Nepalese capital Kathmandu for film, Toulouse in France for music, Spain's Valencia for design, and Caen in France and Morocco's Casablanca for media arts.
France's Lyon, a Creative City of Music since 2008, requested and was granted to change its creative field to literature.
"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," said UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay in a statement.
In 2017, Baguio City was named a Creative City of Craft and Folk Art, and two years later, Cebu City was recognized as a Creative City of Design.
