In 2021, Whanganui was announced as New Zealand’s only UNESCO City of Design, one of 49 such cities worldwide, in recognition of our exceptional creativity, innovative spirit, cultural integrity and strength of artistic tradition.

Whanganui’s City of Design status is not only a recognition of our creative heritage, it also reflects the unique significance of our indigenous cultural identity and the direction our city is taking.

Just like our river, which sustains and shapes us, design shapes our contemporary city.

Design is diverse – it covers not only our creative industries but our industrial and manufacturing sectors. It reflects our historical contribution and commitment to creativity, from Māori designers’ artistry and innovation alongside the awa for more than 800 years, to the visionary architects who created the city’s beautiful landmark buildings.

Design innovation spans Whanganui Iwi remarkable history of engineering, including the unique construction of pā auroa — a style of pā tuna (eel weir) designed to withstand the challenges of strong waters and driftwood.

The contribution of Māori creatives is significant and contemporary Māori designers continue to share and evolve a unique visual language for this place.

Being part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network now means we can share our design with the world, celebrate the indigenous design of our peers, and grow stronger in our processes.

In 1840, Europeans arrived and the city developed rapidly.
The scale and design of civic infrastructure like the Royal Whanganui Opera House, Cooks Gardens, Whanganui Regional Museum and Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery are testaments to the ambition of the new city.

By the end of the nineteenth century Whanganui had emerged a national leader in the arts and crafts movement and in 1920 Samuel Hurst Seager designed an innovative garden suburb at Durie Hill.

During the mid twentieth century the city came to prominence as a hotbed of modernist architecture, from the iconic Whanganui War Memorial Centre to the groundbreaking urban development of the Turere Place precinct.

Just as the river courses through its heart, Whanganui’s creative history and contemporary design bring life to the city and its inhabitants, and are accessible to explore every day.

Design is diverse – it covers not only our creative industries but also our industrial and manufacturing sectors, which are world leaders in their innovative and creative contributions.

Whanganui embraces co-design, learning as a city to work with iwi to achieve the objectives of Tupua te Kawa, the values of the Te Awa Tupua legislation which awards our river legal personhood and protects it for generations to come.

Whanganui offers the opportunity to experience creativity first-hand. We are home to New Zealand Glassworks – Te Whare Tūhua o Te Ao, the national centre for art glass, where visitors can watch contemporary glass being created and participate in its creation themselves. Quartz, Museum of Studio Ceramics is the national centre for ceramics with a nationally significant collection. 

Whanganui’s Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery opens in November 2024. The stunning new $70m gallery spans more than 4,5000 sqm and is part of the wider renewal of Pukenamu Queen’s Park. Also at Pukenamu, the Whanganui Regional Museum holds the most important collection of taonga outside of Auckland Museum and Te Papa, and one of the leading Lindauer collections in the world.