On October 31, 2017, the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City Network (UCCN) designated the City of Kansas City, Missouri as UCCN Member, making Kansas City the first and only City of Music in the United States. The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote global cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.