Padang Prepares Strategic Steps To Enter The UNESCO Gastronomi City Network

JAKARTA - Gastronomi is not only a matter of taste, but also culture, history, and city identity. That is the reason why UNESCO formed Creative Cities Network (UCCN), including the category of creative cities in the culinary field.

The cities that are members of this network are recognized for their success in making culinary wealth part of sustainable development, local cultural promotions, and creative economy drivers.

In line with this spirit, the Padang City Government, West Sumatra, has begun to prepare a strategy to be included in the UCCN as the City of Gastronomy.

The Mayor of Padang, Fadly Amran, revealed that his party is currently designing concrete steps with various stakeholders to strengthen the candidacy.

"This step will involve cross-sectoral collaboration so that efforts to make Padang a world gastronomy city can be realized," said Fadly in Padang, as quoted by ANTARA.

Fadly assessed that Padang's culinary wealth, such as rendang, satay Padang, to various typical Minangkabau snacks, is a cultural asset that not only worldwide, but also reflects the identity of the community. Moreover, the Old City of Padang as a historic area also shows traces of multiculturalism that can enrich the narrative of local gastronomi.

The former Mayor of Padang Panjang added that the pentahelix approach that involves the government, academics, business actors, communities, and the media will be the key in developing the old city area as well as strengthening Padang's position in the creative city network.

Meanwhile, Gadjah Mada University Professor of Architecture and Planning, Wiendu Nuryanti, explained that UCCN is a global initiative formed in 2004 to support cities that make creativity and culture the axis of development. To date, there are about 350 cities from various parts of the world that have joined.

"Every city that is joined has a responsibility to encourage international cooperation and preserve a distinctive legacy of creativity, such as local culinary," he said.

Wiendu emphasized that the readiness of a city to join is not only measured by culinary wealth, but also community participation, an inclusive development approach, to long-term commitments to support the creative industry.

Currently, six cities in Indonesia have joined UCCN in various fields, and Padang is expected to be the next in the gastronomi category. With a mature strategy and cross-sectoral support, the opportunity is wide open.