The City: Network of Cultures: UNESCO Culture Sector

CULTURE

The City: Network of Cultures

Vast cities welcome populations from the four corners of the globe and penetrate every influence; they are a melting-pot in which the richest possible cultural mixes occur.

However, this traditional foyer of cultural exchange and innovation also produces most of the ills of modern society: unemployment, poverty, crime, inadequate infrastructures and services, and environmental problems.

Cities are increasingly in the front line in the struggle against exclusion and in the matter of security and intercommunal conflict prevention or management; they have to devise citizens’ protection and solidarity systems in the shadow of globalization.

UNESCO’s priority in this context is to foster the creation of decentralized data infrastructures to assist local authorities in political decision-making regarding the fight against exclusion.

A data base listing more than 800 best practices in urban harmony has now been drawn up on the basis of a "Cities for Peace" network.

The "Culture in the Neighbourhood" project magnifies this attempt at intercultural dialogue in the urban environment based on partnerships between African and European countries, and places emphasis on social integration and participation of inhabitants.