Capetonians will be holding their breath as World Design Capital judges announce whether the mother city has been awarded the coveted World Design Capital 2014 in Taipei on Wednesday, 26 October.
Cape Town is the first African city to ever have been short-listed as a World Design Capital. This prestigious status is designated biennially by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) to cities that are dedicated to using design for social, cultural and economic development.
The judges visited Cape Town on 25 and 26 July 2011 to compare the merits of our bid to those of the other cities shortlisted, which included Dublin and Bilbao.
This short-listing is pivotal for Cape Town’s reputation as a city that has successfully used industrial design for its social, economic and cultural development. There is a strong connection between good design and a city’s economic growth, development and social inclusion program. This is the strong message at the core of our bid, the theme of which is ‘Live Design. Transform Life.’
The 465-page Bid Book, which won a Loerie award, was compiled by the Cape Town Partnership, mandated by the City of Cape Town, and submitted to the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design in Canada.
Zayd Minty, Cape Town Partnership’s Creative Cape Town programme director, says, ‘Bidding for World Design Capital 2014 is our city’s opportunity to use the energy of our present to re-imagine and reposition ourselves as a city which can use design to overcome our past, reconnect as people, and take us into a new future – a city poised to make an impact economically and socially.
Well-designed cities are best placed to address issues of competitiveness, climate change, growth, social cohesion and mobility. Design as a principle for changing lives began with the end of apartheid and, increasingly, has become a guiding philosophy in the repositioning of Cape Town as a sustainable city, committed to a journey to improve the quality of life for all its citizens.
In other words, it’s about making better design choices for our city – in our public transport systems, public spaces and community facilities. It’s about designing a better, more liveable city for you and those around you.
With predecessors such as Seoul, Korea (2010) and Helsinki, Finland (2012), proving that design can in fact transform lives, Cape Town’s status as a top three contender shifts the city onto a new world platform and into a new era.
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