On the occasion of World Cities Day, Casablanca and Ouarzazate joined approximately 350 other locales now making up UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, the UN body said on Tuesday in a release.
The two Moroccan cities were chosen for the significance they place on culture and creativity in their urban renewal projects, as well as for their innovative practices in human-centered urban planning.
Casablanca became a Creative City in the category of Digital Arts, while Ouarzazate was designated a Creative City for Cinema. They join Essaouira and Tetouan on the list, thereby doubling the Kingdom’s contribution to the Network.
“The cities in our Creative Cities Network are at the forefront of providing access to culture and mobilizing creativity for resilience and urban development,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated.
The UNESCO Creative Communities Network was established in 2004 to encourage collaboration among communities worldwide that have identified creativity as a key aspect in sustainable urban development.
The Network presently has 350 cities in over 100 countries, spanning seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Arts, Digital Arts, Design, Cinema, Gastronomy, Literature, and Music.
The newly designated cities will collaborate with Network members to strengthen their resilience in the face of climate change, growing inequality, and rapid urbanization, with 68% of the world’s population predicted to reside in cities by 2050, according to the press release.