The City of Nagoya gained membership in the Creative Cities Network (in the category of Design) under the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in October 2008.

The Creative Cities Network is certified by UNESCO, an organization which emphasizes the conservation of cultural diversity. This program promotes international partnerships and reciprocal exchanges between cities throughout the world which seek invigoration through the development and strengthening of creative and cultural industries.

The program consists of seven fields which include, craftwork and folk art, design, film, gastronomy , literature, music, and media arts.

Cities Appointed to the Network（29 cities /August, 2011）

Field/City’s name (Joining year)

  • UNESCO Cities of Craft and Folk Art
    • Aswan, Egypt (2005)
    • Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (2005)
    • Kanazawa, Japan (2009)
    • Icheon, Republic of Korea (2010)
  • UNESCO Cities of Design
  • UNESCO City of Film
    • Bradford, UK (2009)
    • Sydney, Australia (2010)
  • UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy
    • Popayan, Colombia (2005)
    • Chengdu, China (2010)
    • Östersund, Sweden (2010)
  • UNESCO Cities of Literature
    • Edinburgh, UK (2004)
    • Melbourne, Australia (2008)
    • Iowa City, USA (2008)
    • Dublin, Ireland (2010)
    • Reykjavik, Iceland (2011)
  • UNESCO Cities of Music
    • Bologna, Italy (2006)
    • Seville, Spain (2006)
    • Glasgow, UK (2008)
    • Ghent, Belgium (2009)
  • UNESCO Cities of Media Arts
    • Lyon, France (2008)

Progress until now

Since the “Design City Declaration” in 1989, we have worked to organize the World Design Exposition and establish the International Design Center NAGOYA, to develop and spread an awareness of design among residents and companies, and to cultivate young designers. During these activities, we cooperated with local industries, design organizations and educational institutions. Nagoya City, together with the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the International Design Center Nagoya, prepared and applied to UNESCO in March 2007 for the membership in the design category. Finally, in October 2008, Nagoya City was appointed as an UNESCO City of Design.

Creative Design City Nagoya Logo

Logo
After being appointed as a UNESCO Creative City, Nagoya City designed a new logo by combining the symbol of UNESCO and the Maruhachi mark (an ‘8’ written in Kanji inside a circle) which is the symbol of Nagoya.
An earth which is rich in natural resources and living things is represented by the blue color of the logo. This same blue color symbolizes the eagerness of industry, academia and government to work together in transmitting the appeal of Nagoya to the world.

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