Congratulations to the cities of Dublin and Bilbao for making the World Design City 2014 shortlist with Cape Town. We are in good company, and look forward to a friendly contest.
There are five reasons why making the shortlist is good for Cape Town, regardless of the final outcome in October:
Power of organisation
Getting this far was as a result of good teamwork, local networking and organisation between public sector, industry, professional, academic, non-governmental and community organisations. There is great value for a city like Cape Town in building cross-sector partnerships to support a more resilient and sustainable city development trajectory. The investment of time and efforts in local collaborative partnerships will pay off in the long term, whether we win the WDC2014 designation or not
Power of deadlines
There is nothing like a deadline to get people in a city working together to get things done and taking decisions. Getting the 465-page Bid Book ready by 31 March earlier this year was an important deadline. Preparing for a visit by the Icsid selection committee in July is the next deadline. And if Cape Town wins the WDC2014 designation in October, we will have two years to focus on getting our act together to host a series of successful design events in 2014.
Power of profile
The designation of World Design Capital will enable Cape Town to gain additional visibility in a competitive global arena as a centre of design and creativity. Even making it to the shortlist assists in this regard. This is good for our economic location and visitor destination brand, enabling us to attract investment and creative people, strengthen our knowledge-based economy and build our international design contacts
Power of citizen pride
Getting on to a shortlist of three from a list of 56 cities from 24 countries is a significant achievement. If we win in October, there will be even more reasons to celebrate. We can be proud as citizens, just as we were when we helped host of successful Football World Cup for South Africa. Cities are about people, not just buildings and infrastructure. Raising the level of citizen confidence and participation is an important part of a city development process.
Power of design
At the end of the day, the most important thing is to be able to use design to change people’s lives for the better. Cape Town’s bid is not about designing high-end consumer ‘stuff’. It’s about making better design choices for our city, e.g. public transport systems, public spaces, community facilities, informal settlements upgrading. It’s about designing a more inclusive economic vision, such as we are trying to do with the proposed new Economic Development Agency. It’s about industrial design for the low carbon economy, such as the Joule electric car in Woodstock. And about design for social and community development, such as the work of the Reconstructed Living Laboratory (Rlabs) in Athlone and the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrade (VPUU) Programme in Khayelitsha. And win or not, we will continue to make a ‘designerly noise’ about the future of our city and our citizens
Official Icsid Press Release
Montreal (Canada), 21 June 2011 - Following deliberations on 9 June 2011, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) has the pleasure to announce on behalf of the members of the World Design Capital® (WDC) Selection Committee that the cities of Bilbao (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa) and Dublin (Ireland) have been selected as the three shortlisted cities that will move on to the next round of evaluation in the bid to becoming the World Design Capital in 2014.
In 2014 selection of World Design Capital will be the fourth appointment by Icsid of this biennial designation to a city, in recognition of its accomplishments in using design as a catalyst for development and reinvention, as well as for improving its social, cultural and economic environments.
After a comprehensive review of all bids submitted, the cities of Bilbao, Cape Town and Dublin distinguished themselves not only by demonstrating their individual approaches towards design in their cities, but also managed to convey the impact of these on the various aspects of social, cultural and economic life, as well as provided three very unique visions for how design will continue to reinvent their urban landscape. Furthermore, these cities demonstrated that they possessed the expertise, infrastructure and financial capabilities to successfully develop and implement an inspiring yearlong programme of international design-related events, promoting design, as well as their city, on an international stage; and finally, illustrated how their citizens have and will continue to benefit from their city’s achievements in design.
“It was a difficult decision, but the WDC Selection Committee has shortlisted three incredibly well thought-out and all-together remarkable bids that have created unique competitive advantages for their cities through design,” expressed Martin Darbyshire, WDC Organising Committee member and Icsid Executive Board Member. “These proposals have conveyed very workable and deliverable plans to use design as a means to reinvigorate their city’s social, cultural and economic development.”
“The Bilbao City Hall, the Provincial Government of Bizkaia and the Basque Government would like to express their great enthusiasm on being shortlisted to be the World Design Capital in 2014,” stated Iñaki Azkuna, Mayor of Bilbao. “Design innovation has become an essential tool to improve the competitiveness and quality of life in cities, and is necessary to enhance collaborative public-private environments with direct participation from the administrations, universities and different economic and professional agents. This is the direction Bilbao has followed to achieve its transformation over the past 25 years, and this designation will help continue the rejuvenation of our great city.
“Cape Town’s bid to be the World Design Capital of the year in 2014 shows how far we have come as a city. More importantly, it shows how far we want to take this city,” declared Patricia De Lille, Executive Mayor of Cape Town. “The creative industries make up an extremely important part of our local economy. The value of an event such as World Design Capital not only exposes our creative design talents to the world, but in turn develops our local industry into an asset for decades to come.”
Lord Mayor of Dublin Gerry Breen echoed the enthusiasm shown by the two accompanying shortlisted cities, stating, “Dublin is honoured to be one of three cities shortlisted for World Design Capital 2014. On behalf of Dublin City Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin County Councils, I welcome the opportunities the World Design Capital project will give us. The project will be beneficial in economic, environmental, social and political terms. These are difficult times and this bid will challenge us to adapt, recover and grow.”
The next step in the process leading up to the final selection of the 2014 WDC designation is the city visits that will be conducted in July 2011 by members of the WDC Organising Committee. These site inspections will enable further information to be gathered in an attempt to provide the WDC Selection Committee with a more thorough understanding of the proposed programmes by each of the shortlisted cities prior to the final selection in August 2011.
The official announcement of the 2014 World Design Capital designated city will be on 26 October during the 2011 International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress in Taipei, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei).
Links
About the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid)
The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) is a non-profit organisation that protects and promotes the interests of the profession of industrial design. Founded in 1957, Icsid serves as a unified voice of over 50 nations through which members can express their views and be heard on an international platform. Since its inception, Icsid has continued to develop its wide-reaching network of students and professionals devoted to the recognition, success and growth of the industrial design community. Together, professional associations, promotional societies, educational institutions, government bodies and corporations create a comprehensive and diverse system on the forefront of industrial design education and progress.
About the World Design Capital
While there are many awards that recognise individual accomplishments in design, the World Design Capital (WDC) designation is unique as it aims to focus on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens. The designation provides a distinctive opportunity for cities to feature their accomplishments in attracting and promoting innovative design, as well as highlight their successes in urban revitalisation strategies.
The World Design Capital is an initiative of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), who manages the daily operation of the project in a major step for the global design community.
Background on the WDC 2014 Selection Committee
The selection committee for the 2014 designation consists of:
- Dr. Mark Breitenberg, Icsid President (USA)
- Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg, Chief, Creative Industries Programme of UNCTAD (Switzerland)
- Jeremy Myerson, Director and Chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art (UK)
- Kohei Nishiyama Founder and CEO of elephant design co., ltd. and Founder of CUUSOO.com (Japan)
- Jussi Pajunen Mayor of the City of Helsinki (Finland).
WDC Torino 2008
As the first city to hold the World Design Capital title, Torino (Italy) was appointed as the pilot city for the project in September 2005. Since it’s designation, and in close partnership with Icsid, Torino has adopted a significant urban transformation strategy aimed at rejuvenating the city through the use of design.
www.torinoworlddesigncapital.it/portale/en
WDC Seoul 2010
In October 2007, Seoul (South Korea) was selected as the WDC for 2010. Through the yearlong programme of events Seoul not only attracted international interest, but also showcased how the World Design Capital designation is a valuable platform for economic growth and community cohesion.
WDC Helsinki 2012
Selected World Design Capital 2012, Helsinki (Finland) is now developing with the support of Icsid, an extensive programme that will reveal the city’s unique identity.
Huge congrats to everyone behind the Cape Town bid! Great work.
Great stuff! Cape Town can now really be regarded in the Big luage! Viva Cape VIVa
This is fantastic news! YAY!