The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
Kuching became the first city in Malaysia to successfully designate in this network in any creative field. At that time, it joined 49 other cities around the world as a City of Gastronomy and a further 295 as a creative city, spread across 7 fields.
These cities share knowledge and collaborate to prioritise and develop the creative economy towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development goals.
The network is growing exponentially. In 2021, it added 50 new cities to its list; Kuching its first from Borneo. The gastronomy cluster grew by 13 cities in this cycle.
Kuching began its application process in July 2020, drawing together multiple stakeholders to craft a submission. This described the many varied and exciting events, activities, programmes, infrastructure and policies in place across the city over the preceding 5 years. It was backed by a narrative report, telling the story of Kuching’s food and the communities that create it, and a bid video, giving a glimpse into the diversity of Kuching cuisine. Kuching’s narrative report was later singled out to receive a Gourmand World Cookbook award in 2022 in the ‘Best Free Publication’ category.
