Sharjah has been named among 66 cities designated as UNESCO Creative Cities by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.

As laboratories of ideas and innovative practices, the UNESCO Creative Cities bring a tangible contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative thinking and action, A UNESCO announcement says.

Through their commitment, cities are championing sustainable development actions that directly benefit communities at urban level.

"All over the world, these cities, each in its way, make culture the pillar, not an accessory, of their strategy," says UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. "This favours political and social innovation and is particularly important for the young generations."

The new 66 UNESCO Creative Cities are: Afyonkarahisar (Turkey) – Gastronomy Ambon (Indonesia) – Music Angoulême (France) – Literature Areguá (Paraguay) – Crafts and Folk Art Arequipa (Peru) – Gastronomy Asahikawa (Japan) – Design Ayacucho (Peru) – Crafts and Folk Art Baku (Azerbaijan) – Design Ballarat (Australia) – Crafts and Folk Art Bandar Abbas (Iran [Islamic Republic of]) – Crafts and Folk Art Bangkok (Thailand) – Design Beirut (Lebanon) – Literature Belo Horizonte (Brazil) – Gastronomy Bendigo (Australia) – Gastronomy Bergamo (Italy) – Gastronomy Biella (Italy) – Crafts and Folk Art Caldas da Rainha (Portugal) – Crafts and Folk Art Cebu City (Philippines) – Design Essaouira (Morocco) – Music Exeter (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – Literature Fortaleza (Brazil) – Design Hanoi (Vietnam) – Design Havana (Cuba) – Music Hyderabad (India) – Gastronomy Jinju (Republic of Korea) – Crafts and Folk Art Kargopol (Russian Federation) – Crafts and Folk Art Karlsruhe (Germany) – Media Arts Kazan (Russian Federation) – Music Kırşehir (Turkey) – Music Kuhmo (Finland) – Literature Lahore (Pakistan) – Literature Leeuwarden (Netherlands) – Literature Leiria (Portugal) – Music Lliria (Spain) – Music Mérida (Mexico) – Gastronomy Metz (France) – Music Muharraq (Bahrain) – Design Mumbai (India) – Film Nanjing (China) – Literature Odessa (Ukraine) – Literature Overstrand Hermanus (South Africa) – Gastronomy Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago) – Music Portoviejo (Ecuador) – Gastronomy Potsdam (Germany) – Film Querétaro (Mexico) – Design Ramallah (Palestine) – Music San José (Costa Rica) – Design Sanandaj (Iran [Islamic Republic of]) – Music Santiago de Cali (Colombia) – Media Arts Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) – Music Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – Film Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) – Crafts and Folk Art Slemani (Iraq) – Literature Sukhothai (Thailand) – Crafts and Folk Art Trinidad (Cuba) – Crafts and Folk Art Valladolid (Spain) – Film Valledupar (Colombia) – Music Valparaíso (Chile) – Music Veszprém (Hungary) – Music Viborg (Denmark) – Media Arts Viljandi (Estonia) – Crafts and Folk Art Vranje (Serbia) – Music Wellington (New Zealand) – Film Wonju (Republic of Korea) – Literature Wrocław (Poland) – Literature Yangzhou (China) – Gastronomy The UNESCO Creative Cities Network now counts a total of 246 cities.

The member cities that form part of the Network come from all continents and regions with different income levels and populations. They work together towards a common mission: placing creativity and the creative economy at the core of their urban development plans to make cities safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.