UNESCO Creative Cities in the UK

Belfast’s UNESCO journey began in 2017 when the Council asked 20,000 people – ‘What does home mean to you?’ It emerged that for many, home is an emotional connection – a sense of belonging and within those responses, music was a recurring theme. Belfast Creative City of Music will deliver a series of high profile music events, aim to build its infrastructure to further support music creators, and will see music woven into public spaces and places to ensure the power and benefits of music can be felt by all who live, work in or visit the city.

The Gateway to England’s West Country, Bristol (pop. 454,200) is the United Kingdom’s 10th largest city and an established centre for creative innovation. Home to motion picture pioneer William Friese-Greene, Hollywood icon Cary Grant, the world-leading BBC Natural History unit and Academy Award®-winning Aardman Animations, film plays a central role in Bristol’s cultural and commercial identity. The sector significantly contributes to the local economy with independent companies providing US$197,8 million and visiting productions bringing US$258 million into the city in 2016 and 2017.

Dundee is a remarkable city with a population of 147,000 inhabitants – small and compact, but reaching far beyond its boundaries with a thriving and innovative design heart. Just a century ago, Dundee was an economic power house – a centre for the textile trade and shipbuilding. Although now mass production is almost all gone, design is still an integral part of Dundee’s contemporary creative scene and economy, with expertise in fashion and textile, art and jewellery as well as a wealth of digital companies making their mark on the world.

Edinburgh is the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. Designated in 2004, the capital of Scotland has a population of almost 500,000. It is the birthplace and home to world-famous writers, poets and playwrights including Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Walter Scott (Waverley), and JK Rowling (Harry Potter). It has its own Poet Laureate, the Edinburgh Makar. Publishing Scotland, the national body for publishers, as well as award-winning independent publishers are based here. The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the world’s largest literary festival of its kind, lasting for two weeks each August. The Festival welcomes approximately 800 authors from nearly 40 countries and brings in over 225,000 visitors annually.

Widely recognised as a major international musical centre, Glasgow is the musical capital of Scotland, and is the largest music economy in the UK after London. Historically, music has played a key role in Glasgow. Music continues to be a vibrant part of city life and is reflected in the excellence of its musicians and practitioners, the enthusiasm of its music audiences as well as in its public policies addressing music both as an art form as well as a tool of education and social integration.

Situated in the North-West of England, Liverpool recognises creativity as a means of sustaining its post-industrial renewal. Home to 470,000 inhabitants and one of the most influential rock bands in history, music is at the heart of Liverpool’s’ cultural identity and is an important driver of its local economy, generating more than £70 million in annual turnover.

Manchester has a proud history in music, science, radical thinking and sport and has long attracted migrants from all over the world. Home to a population of 540.000 with 91 cultural groups and estimated 200 languages spoken, Manchester is a diverse and multicultural city. Manchester’s radical thinking tradition means that free expression is central to civic identity. Literature has been a force for change, innovation, openness and collaboration throughout the city’s history. It is where Engels and Marx worked together at Chetham’s Library and where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her campaigning novels.

A medium-sized city (population 230,000) in the East of England, Norwich is a place where ideas and the written word have flourished for over 900 years. The city’s literary heritage includes the first book to be published in English by a woman: Revelations of Divine Love written by Julian of Norwich in the fourteenth century which still resonates to this day. In more recent times, Britain’s first MA in Creative Writing was founded at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Writers of world standing – including Ian McEwan and Kazuo Ishiguro – emerged from this programme. It is now widely regarded as one of the most influential courses for new writing.

Located in the centre of England, and home to 320,000 inhabitants – with 786,000 in the wider urban area, Nottingham boasts a rich history of illustrious literary figures residing within its walls, such as Lord Byron, D.H. Lawrence, Stanley Middleton and Alan Sillitoe, to name but a few. Now, as a hub for creatively, records show that over 2,400 creative businesses, employing nearly 20,000 people, are based there.

In 2021 Perth was named the first UK Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art. The Perth bid focused on the importance of craft to the history and heritage of our city – it was known as ‘Craftistown’ from the early 16th century because of the importance of trades and its Incorporation of Guilds. Craft is still essential today with a wealth of creative talent across the whole area and the growing creative industry sector. Being a UNESCO city has huge positive impact on a city and the surrounding region; it is a world recognised badge of quality for the area, a driver of funding streams and a way of creating new commercial and learning opportunities for creatives and makers to live and work in.

For two millennia, York has been a meeting point for ideas and creativity. Founded as a Roman fortress in 71 AD, York’s world-class heritage continues to be its cultural centrepiece, attracting over seven million visitors per year. Media arts are the engine of York’s continued development.