City of Gastronomy

UNESCO's City of Gastronomy project is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The Network was launched in 2004, and organizes member cities into seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music.^[1]

Criteria for Cities of Gastronomy

To be approved as a City of Gastronomy, cities need to meet a number of criteria set by UNESCO:^[2]

Well-developed gastronomy that is characteristic of the urban centre and/or region;
Vibrant gastronomy community with numerous traditional restaurants and/or chefs;
Indigenous ingredients used in traditional cooking;
Local know-how, traditional culinary practices and methods of cooking that have survived industrial/technological advancement;
Traditional food markets and traditional food industry;
Tradition of hosting gastronomic festivals, awards, contests and other broadly-targeted means of recognition;
Respect for the environment and promotion of sustainable local products;
Nurturing of public appreciation, promotion of nutrition in educational institutions and inclusion of biodiversity conservation programmes in cooking schools curricula.

Cities submit bids to UNESCO to be designated, which reviewed every four years.

List of cities

The Cities of Gastronomy are:^[3]

City	Country	Year	Notes
Afyonkarahisar	Turkey	2019	For its major industries in food production and animal husbandry and its production of Turkish delight and clotted cream.
Alba	Italy	2017	For its white truffles and vineyards, annual white truffle festival, and its role in the development of the Slow Food movement.
Arequipa	Peru	2019
Battambang	Cambodia	2023^[4]
Belém	Brazil	2015
Belo Horizonte	Brazil	2019	For its coffee industry and culture and the mixing of various cultures that flocked to the city influencing its cuisine.
Bendigo	Australia	2019
Bergamo	Italy	2019	For its history of cheese making, renowned for its award-winning and famous cheese products, as well as other forms of traditional food production, with advocacy for greater sustainability in food production and support of its farmers and traditional methods of agriculture.
Bergen	Norway	2015	Known for its long history in seafood trade and organic, sustainable seafood gastronomy.
Bohicon	Benin	2021	For its location at the economic crossroads of Benin, production of condiments and sauces, and steps taken to establish gastronomic events and organizations.
Buenaventura	Colombia	2017	For its cuisine of the local Afro-Colombian population, its fruit and seafood production, and promotion of cuisine as a way of healing following the Colombian conflict.
Buraidah	Saudi Arabia	2021
Burgos	Spain	2015	For its title as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy since 2013, due to its sustainable gastronomic industries that employ 26% of the city's population.
Chaozhou	China	2023^[4]
Chengdu	China	2010	For its role in Sichuanese cuisine, one of the most popular types of cuisine in China; the birthplace of numerous dishes, including mapo doufu and dan dan noodles; and its distinct and vibrant tea house culture.
Cochabamba	Bolivia	2017	The most important center of grain production in the Andes, which employs one third of the labor force and has adapted to sustainable methods.
Dénia	Spain	2015
Ensenada	Mexico	2015	For its thriving wine and fishing industries, with the Ensenada region producing 90% of Mexico's wine, and the site of Mexico's second most important port area.
Florianópolis	Brazil	2014	For its hosting of annual food festivals and its historic oyster industry.
Fribourg	Switzerland	2023^[4]
Gangneung	South Korea	2023^[4]
Gaziantep	Turkey	2015	For the importance of production of cereals, spices, dried fruits, and pistachios to the regional economy, and innovation in renewable and sustainable food production.
Hatay	Turkey	2019	For its rich cuisine as a center of the spice trade, as well as empowerment of women and refugees in the food industry.
Heraklion	Greece	2023^[4]
Huai'an	China	2021
Hyderabad	India	2019	For its famed and unique Hyderabadi cuisine that combines the native Telugu and Indian Muslim cuisines of the region, that is promoted in the city's network of restaurants and bazaars and celebrated in local festivals such as Ramzan and Bathukamma.
Iloilo City	Philippines	2023^[4]	For its diverse array of traditional and modernized cuisine inspired the use of indigenous ingredients that make food unique. It is dubbed as the "Food Haven of the Philippines" and is celebrated for its gastronomic richness in the likes of the La Paz Batchoy, Pancit Molo, Kadyos Baboy Langka (KBL), Chicken Binakol, Laswa, Kansi, Kadyos, manok, kag ubad, Chicken Inasal, Kinilaw, seafoods, various rice and corn-based traditional desserts, and many more.
Jeonju	South Korea	2012	Long-standing traditions in production of rice, fish, salted fish, and wild greens and vegetables due to its geographic location, and its efforts to support development of traditional food culture through local education.
Kayseri	Turkey	2022
Kermanshah	Iran	2021	A melting pot of various types of cuisine and dishes from the various ethnic groups in Iran, and over 45 events related to local gastronomy and cuisine.
Kuching	Malaysia	2021	A center of trade and culinary development between indigenous peoples of the region and other regions of Southeast Asia, promoted by its traditional food bazaars and promotion of cuisine from indigenous cultures.
Lankaran	Azerbaijan	2021	The center of gastronomy in the South Caucasus, with important historical industries in cultivation of tea, vegetables, rice, and citrus, as well as in cattle farming, fishing, beekeeping, and grain farming, which are preserved and celebrated in local events.
Launceston	Australia	2021
Macao	China	2017	For its unique blend of Cantonese and Portuguese influence in culinary arts, such as African chicken, a dish which includes Asian ingredients next to peri-peri peppers brought from Mozambique by Portuguese explorers, and for its holding of the Macao Food Festival and other food-related events.
Mérida	Mexico	2019	For its variety of culinary festivals and programs, and its development of indigenous Maya gastronomy to develop, preserve, and empower its indigenous cultures.
Östersund	Sweden	2010	For its widely-known gastronomic culture based on sustainable practices linked to its natural surroundings.
Overstrand Hermanus	South Africa	2019	For its wine industry, gastronomic arts events, and its promotion of sustainable food production, such as creating abalone farms to ease pressure on ocean ecosystems.
Nkongsamba	Cameroon	2023^[4]
Portoviejo	Ecuador	2019	For its rich agricultural and maritime industries and development of culinary advancement in the aftermath of earthquakes in 2016.
Panama City	Panama	2017	For its rich culinary history and development of organizations promoting social responsibility through gastronomy.
Paraty	Brazil	2017	For the blending of Portuguese, Indigenous, and African cultures leading to the creation of some of Brazil's most famous cuisine such as paçoca and farofa-de-feijão and its history in making of cachaça.
Parma	Italy	2015	The gastronomic center of the "Italian Food Valley", with 30.5% of the city's population employed in sustainable gastronomic and agri-food industries.
Phetchaburi	Thailand	2021
Phuket	Thailand	2015	The center of Phuket cuisine
Popayán	Colombia	2005
Rasht	Iran	2015
Rouen	France	2021	Development as a cultural hub of Normandy through promotion of its cuisine, especially in the baking and maritime sectors.
Saint Petersburg	Russia	2021
San Antonio	United States	2017	For its role in the development of the widely-known fusion Tex-Mex cuisine, as well as Mexican cuisine in America.
Santa Maria da Feira	Portugal	2021
Shunde	China	2014	One of the cradles of Cantonese cuisine in the Pearl River Delta, with the innovation and development of multiple culinary practices amplified by its lively economy and cultural scene.
Thessaloniki	Greece	2021	For its production of fresh ingredients and feta, Greek yogurt, and olive oil, and its promotion of these products in events.
Tsuruoka	Japan	2014	For the cultivation of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, edamame, and rice from the mountains, and seafood from the ocean playing an important role in the city's development and history.
Tucson	United States	2015	For its culture and development of Sonoran Mexican cuisine.
Usuki	Japan	2021	For its production of miso paste, soy sauce, sake, and shochu liquor, and its role in the global Slow Food movement.
Yangzhou	China	2019	Cradle of Huaiyang cuisine, hosting over 100 food-themed festivals, conferences, and exhibitions, and promotion of its gastronomic heritage.
Zahlé	Lebanon	2013	For its viticulture and production of wine and arak and celebrations of its food history.