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.

Criteria for Cities of Gastronomy

To be approved as a City of Gastronomy, cities need to meet a number of criteria set by UNESCO:
  • 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, with a review every four years.

List of cities

The Cities of Gastronomy are:
CityCountryYearNotes
AfyonkarahisarTurkey