Graz designated as UNESCO City of Design

www.graz-cityofdesign.at 

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, designated Graz as "City of Design" on 16 March 2011, as part of the Origanization's Creative Cities Network.

With its strong history of design culture, the city of Graz is committed to ebracing design and the creative industries as a strategic tool for socio-economic and cultural development.

What does the title "City of Design" involve?
One of the leading projects of Creative Industries Styria concentrates on positioning Graz as a most attractive "second city". In the course of these ambitions, Creative Industries Styria was commissioned by the City of Graz and the Province of Styria (Department of Economy, Innovation and Finances) with the application of Graz to the UNESCO for a "City of Design" status. The official application was submitted on July 28th, 2009. The following seven categories are open for application: literature, film, music, folk art, design, media art and gastronomy. Graz applied in the category "design" for admission to this network of creative cities and was admitted a member on 16 March 2011. The network has existed since 2004 and includes the following metropolis:

City of Design:
Berlin (Germany)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Montreal (Canada)
Nagoya (Japan)
Kobe (Japan)
Shenzhen (China)
Seoul (Southkorea)
Shanghai (China)
St.Etienne (France)
Graz (Austria)

City of Literature:
Edinburgh (Britain)
Melbourne (Australia)
Iowa City (USA)
Dublin (Ireland)

City of Film:
Bradford (Britain)
Sydney (Australia)

City of Music:
Bologna (Italy)
Seville (Spain)
Glasgow (Britain)
Ghent (Belgium)

City of Craft and Folk Art:
Aswan (Egypt)
Santa Fé (USA)
Kanazawa (Japan)
Icheon (Southkorea)

City of Media Art:
Lyons (France)

City of Gastronomy:
Popayán (Columbia)
Chengdu (China)
Östersund (Sweden)

* March 17th, 2011

In what way will Graz benefit from the title "City of Design"?
The designation "City of Design" is not a "title" in the classic sense of the word, but rather an attitude towards life: design, creativity and creative diversity are the topics that should be taken in by people. The creative potential and resulting economic dynamic attract international notice to the city thus raising the attractiveness of the location. This could effectuate an enormous impulse for the creative economy and tourism.