UNESCO Cities of Music

About the Creative City

Kingston is a world renowned centre of musical excellence. Birthplace of 6 distinct musical genres: mento, ska, reggae, rocksteady, dub and dancehall and the careers of music legends such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff, Kingston has had and continues to have great impact on the global music scene.  Apart from having the highest number of music recording studios per capita in the world, Kingston offers a unique sound system culture and a number of live music events. The city boasts large-scale international events such as Reggae Month, Grand Gala Emancipation/Independence (Emancipendence) celebrations, International Reggae Day and conferences geared specifically to industry professionals.

Kingston is also home to theatres, international research centres, as well as the premier institution for the Arts in the English-speaking Caribbean: the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts.  The dominance of Jamaican culture and creativity has propelled the government to prioritise the creative industries and music in particular as an engine of economic growth.

Multiple influences on Kingston’s musical lanscape include Rastafari, specifically Nyabinghi drumming, and Christian gospel music, all intimately linked to the city’s spiritual & religious life.  The seventeenth  century Euro-classical composer Samuel Felsted was born in Kingston & was an organist at the Kingston Parish Church. Kingston produces more music per capita globally being the birthplace of 6 musical genres created in the 20th century.  Kingston’s sound system culture has influenced Hip Hop, Blue Beat, Reggaeton, among others.

As a Creative City of Music, Kingston seeks to:

• Use the creativity of its people specifically in music, as a driver for sustainable urban development.  In particular, the city is focused on using music and the arts to redevelop and revitalize Kingston’s inner city communities.  This will be achieved through conversion of  derelict buildings for use as creative incubators and performance venues to  promote appreciation for creativity and provide outlets for creative expression.
• Foster cultural exchanges and interaction between Kingston and other Network members through participation in joint programmes and initiatives that meaningfully impact the  creative sectors and change the lives of artists and creators.
• Develop and support pilot projects that have as their focus community building through the arts.
• Facilitate policy and programmatic convergence with the National Development Plan, National Cultural Policy Cultural and Creative Industries Policy to achieve Network missions and objectives.

Bologna is home to the oldest University of the Western world, funded in 1088. The city can boast a vibrant cultural life and an emerging creative economy. It offers a rich and varied cultural scene: in continuity with its glorious past, in Bologna music acquires an extraordinary relevance thanks to the presence of  leading institutions.

The city stands out for its widespread creative fabric dedicated to musical fruition and production, structured in a series of International Festivals of great relevance, promoting a continuous cultural consumption. The remarkable classical music seasons, the contemporary music program, jazz music played in various places, children-targeted initiatives, the presence of song-writers and rock-bands and so much more, they all contribute to make a unique music scene.

Bologna has identified cultural and creative industries as one of the strategic axes for its local development plan. As a City of Music, Bologna will continue to develop specific actions connected to the support for internationalization of music projects that wish to go international. Support to the music industry is further manifested in a constant activity of international relations, communication and promotion. Moreover, new projects in collaboration with Project Incredibol! Creative Innovation of Bologna with a specific theme will be launched open to creative cities in each sector, for the participation in important cultural events in the city.

Since 2021, the City of Bologna has also been working on the Night Plan, a project to implement innovative policies aimed at addressing the management of the city’s nightlife in all its aspects: cultural, social, economic, livability, and safety. A new way of seeing the city 24/7, starting with listening to those who experience the night. The night is no longer considered a void to be contained but a time to be designed, a time in which to live and share rights, opportunities, and responsibilities.

The night, rather than being endured, is lived: rather than allowing the night to be filled with chaos, degradation, and problems, Bologna chooses to support its citizens and operators in reclaiming nighttime and filling it with positive and inclusive cultural contents.

The project aims to make Bologna a city capable of welcoming and enhancing what happens after dark, listening to the needs of those who live, work, or simply pass through. It is based on the belief that a city that thrives at night, with adequate services, active facilities, and well-maintained public spaces, is a more inclusive, dynamic, and resilient city. Among the stakeholders involved, artists, live club and music venue managers, and other music industry professionals also play a key role.

Through surveys and polls, requests and proposals for improving services and public spaces were collected.

This has led to the first concrete actions: the strengthening of night bus lines, the expansion of bike-sharing hubs, the support of street hosts, and the introduction of a walking escort service for those wishing to return home safely. The project is constantly evolving, thanks to an open dialogue between the Administration, cultural operators, business groups, and citizens.

About the Creative City: 

Glasgow is a vibrant city with a legendary music scene that stretches across the whole spectrum from contemporary and classical, to Celtic and Country. Its venues are equally varied and the city hosts an average 130 music events each week, more than any other Scottish city.

Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra make their home in Glasgow alongside other national organisations including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scotland, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and the Scottish Ensemble. Glasgow has the highest density of higher education institutions offering courses in music and the largest population of music students in Scotland.  Glasgow’s music businesses generate proportionately more output than anywhere else in Scotland.

In August 2008 Glasgow was named a UNESCO City of Music.  One of its immediate goals was to encourage collaborations between Glasgow’s performers, music organisations, festivals, promoters, schools and colleges and their colleagues in the other UNESCO Creative Cities and this remains an ongoing objective.

As a City of Music, Glasgow aims to be:

• ICONIC: Maintain the title on behalf of Glasgow as a highly visible symbol of the excellence, excitement and pride the city takes in its music, past and present.
• KNOWLEDGABLE: Acquire detailed knowledge of Glasgow’s Music and thereby become the primary trusted source of information and advice to all interested parties.
• ACCESSIBLE: Be available to all and seize the opportunity to increase participation and access to music in Glasgow.
• SUPPORTIVE: Assist those active in Glasgow’s Music through partnership, championing, knowledge and advice.
• REPRESENTATIVE: Be deeply embedded in the community of Glasgow’s Music and, through dialogue, become ever more representative of the music community.
• PROMOTIONAL: Seize every chance to promote Glasgow Music past and present by prioritising events, actions and projects with the power to inspire and celebrate Glasgow’s Music.
• UNIQUE: Work with organisations active in Glasgow’s Music to avoid duplication of effort.

Glasgow as a city continues to blaze a trail in exploring the possibilities of music as an essential tool for urban regeneration, improving quality of life and personal development.

Becoming a global Creative City through the yaramaika spirit.

The phrase,“ yaramaika,” means,“ Let’s do it!” in the local dialect, and it expresses the temperament of Hamamatsu’s residents.

These words show the progressive spirit of Creative City Hamamatsu: a city that has

given rise to production technologies and corporations that have grown into global brands in the motorcycle, musical instrument, and light motor vehicle industries.

Hamamatsu is located between Tokyo and Osaka, the two largest metropolitan areas of Japan, and has long flourished as a base of interaction between eastern and western Japan. Hamamatsu has been a melting pot of different cultures, blending them with its own to create a culture with diverse range.

In this way, Hamamatsu developed into both a city of manufacturing and a city of music.

Aims of Hamamatsu: A Creative city

Hamamatsu aims to become a stimulating city where its citizens meet the challenge of creative pursuits and create ongoing new value.

Also, as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Hamamatsu will

actively contribute to the development of creative industries and realization of cultural diversity.

Five Key Policies

1. Promote international exchange through global music events
2. Realize cross-cultural understanding and cultural diversity through music
3. Nurture and exchange musical talent on an international level
4. Contribute as a “mecca” of sound design
5. Bring forth the fantasista, creators of new value

Seville, the capital of Andalusia (Spain), is the fourth largest city of Spain with 703.000 inhabitants (1.500.000 including its metropolitan area).

Seville, located on the Plain of Guadalquivir River, has a leading role as an administrative and economy centre of southern Spain. Besides the longstanding tradition of aerospace industry, the economic activity of Seville is dominated by the service sector, which represents a significant share of the local economy and is focused on tourism. Other sectors with high development in the city have been specialized technical services such as architecture, engineering (with major internationalized companies as exponent) and creative and cultural industries, the latter with great potential.

Seville has three universities with over 80.000 students. One of them, The University of Seville, founded in 1505, has been recognized as a Campus of International Excellence, thanks to the Andalucia Tech Project.

Seville has a very long history. The passage of the various civilizations has left the city a distinct personality and a large and well-preserved historical centre with its most significant building declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is a highly recognized centre of creativity and musical activity and it is also a rich reflection of centuries of musical tradition and influence on a global scale.

In Seville, music is everywhere and above all engages everyone. From symphonies, operas and public open spaces dedicated to music, to foundations, youth organizations, schools and conservatories, the city offers all of its citizens a way to become involved in creating and appreciating music and the city continues to support and boost its industry with great pride.

In 2006 Seville was appointed by the UNESCO as the first Creative City of Music. Its most famous music festival is Bienal de Flamenco, genre that was recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.

As a Creative City of Music, Seville envisages:

• enhancing our musical heritage among citizens, organizing activities throughout the city to reach a wide range of population groups.
• collaborating with other local institutions and supporting initiatives from the local music scene.
• promoting musical exchanges with the other Cities of Music in order to create opportunities and possibilities for the international promotion of local musicians.
• fostering cultural tourism as a factor of sustainable development.
• exchanging “know-how”, best practices and expertise between Cities on music education.
• establishing an international cooperation network in order to develop programmes encouraging mobility of works and artists.
• stimulating broad cooperation between musical actors from the public and private sectors of all Cities of Music.

(city picture: Catedral de noche – ©Juan Carlos Muñoz)

Proposed Links

ICAS Website
Bienal de Flamenco
Early Music Festival
Monkey Week Festival
Seville City of Opera
Video: Seville Creative City of Music

Bogota was designated as a Creative City of Music by UNESCO in March 2012, thanks to the diversity of its traditional, popular and urban expressions and a strong academic and avant-garde music movement. The result of this richness is a consolidated offer of festivals, artistic education programs, cultural facilities equipped for small, medium and large live performances, and a diverse scene that positions Bogota as a visible platform in international circuits.

This offer – deeply correlated with the vibrant ways in which our citizens live and connect with music through their daily routines – provides an environment to promote dialogues, creation and exchanges in the music industry, while attracting an increasing number of international agents, eager to connect with our local experience.

The musical creation of the city keeps thriving through programs promoted by the cultural public sector (Secretariat of Culture, Recreation and Sports; Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota; The District Institute of Arts; Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation) and the private Sector (Music Cluster of Bogota Chamber of Commerce, private promoters , venues and agents). These initiatives are aligned with the city’s cultural policies and many of them are created jointly with other sectors of the local administration, such as Economic Development, Education, Environment and Gender, We’re also aware of the social and economic impact that music has in our territory, and we have conducted surveys and research at various levels to determinate that music is a catalyst of our cultural and creative economy.

The Networking City of Music

Hannover is not only the city where the record was invented, the first music cassette was produced and the first cd was pressed. Hannover is also a place where the art of music and the music industry have always held a prominent position. That still holds true today: Hannover is still shaped by the diversity of musical genres on offer, from pop and rock via jazz to Early Music, and from classical to contemporary; by a higher-than- average employment rate in the music industry and by an excellent infrastructure in the area of musical training.

Hannover is a team player. We are a leading international trade fair location and EXPO city, so we love to welcome guests from all over the world. And we relish the fact that we are working together with Creative Cities all over the world, exchanging ideas and sharing knowledge, inspiring and being inspired.

One catalyst for the application was a study from Hamburg from 2009. It showed that in terms of localisation coefficients, Hannover is the number one music destination in Germany where most people are employed in the music industry compared to the number of people employed in the music industry in Germany as a whole. Our local music scene was intrigued by this result and together with the local creative industry business, the city council and many partners, Hannover applied to become part of the Cities of Music network.

As a City of Music, Hannover will focus on four key areas of activity:

• Innovation – developing and promoting innovative formats of performance, communication, cooperation and exchange.

• International approach – being a hospitable partner to our international visitors and guests, invite musicians from the international creative network, create events such as festivals, fairs and conferences.

• Education – using the already existing excellent infrastructure to strengthen global cooperation.

• Economic synergies – connecting partners from different branches of industry and musical art forms.