Hanoi eyes to form network of cultural and creative hubs

Phung Hung mural street in Hanoi's Old Quarter. (Photo: baovanhoa.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, in collaboration with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), on October 2 organised a workshop entitled “Consultation on Hanoi’s Cultural and Creative Hubs Network”.

The workshop aimed to implement Hanoi’s initiatives and commitments when joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as the City of Design, as well as contributing to the establishment of the Hanoi Network of Cultural and Creative Hubs.

Jonghyu Nam, Acting Chief Representative of UN-HABITAT in Vietnam, called on parties and agencies to discuss and start classifying and evaluating creative hubs in Hanoi, aiming to create a sustainable creative network.

He said those initiatives aim to nurture creativity and realise a sustainable urban area that will contribute to making Hanoi a creative city that thrives, innovates, honours cultural diversity and serves as lessons for other cities around the world in achieving a sustainable urban area.

Participants at the event discussed a proposed set of criteria for assessing the performance of Hanoi’s cultural and creative spaces.

Units, organisations and the private sector were urged to join in forming Hanoi’s Network of Cultural and Creative Hubs and connect the city’s network with the network of creative cities across the world.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports Do Dinh Hong asked relevant parties to support the city in completing the set of criteria.

He said the department developed a set of criteria with a desire to preserve and develop creative spaces so that the capital's residents and tourists can enjoy cultural values.

The department always accompanies creators, he said.

In 2019, Hanoi officially joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the “Design” category. A total of 295 cities from 90 countries in the network have been working together towards a common mission, strengthening international cooperation, placing creativity in the creative economy and core in urban development. This is an important tool and commitment to help realise the goal of developing Hanoi's cultural industry./.