World Design Capital®

World Design Capital® An initiative of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design Presented by: Dilki de Silva, Secretary General [email protected] 25 October 2010

11 WDC PROJECT INITIATOR

• Founded in 1957, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design is the world organisation committed to the advancement of industrial design • Icsid leads the WDC Project in a major step for the global design community www.icsid.org

22 About the WDC project

• while there are many awards that recognise individual accomplishments in design, the World Design Capital designation is unique as it aims to focus on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens • this designation provides a distinctive opportunity for cities to feature their accomplishments in attracting and promoting innovative design and highlight their successes in urban revitalisation strategies • the WDC project seeks to maximise opportunities arising from multidisciplinary design collaboration • it is a year of events from exhibitions, conferences, ceremonies and gala celebrations starting with a public event on New Year’s Eve.

The past two WDCs have taken advantage of its momentum to win public- private support to continue working on design led initiatives in addition to the events.

33 WDC VISION STATEMENT

to honour a city that has used design from “ a social, cultural and economical perspective to reinvent the city ”

44 What Does the Vision Really Mean?

• the WDC is a means to inspire cities to take stock of any successful initiatives that have specifically used design as the leading factor to: – revitalise business districts – gentrify impoverished neighborhoods – create cleaner, safer, more attractive communities

5 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• award a global designation that recognises effective use of design and a commitment for future development • encourage designated cities to invest in design-related events for a period of one year • engage cities to collaborate with Icsid to develop a city promotion initiative celebrating the merits of design • share best practises and act as a platform to encourage other cities to do the same • attract design-minded individuals and experts from a diverse cross-section of industries

66 DESIGN CITY VS. DESIGN CAPITAL

• a Design City is a status designator. It reflects the reputation of the city whether it has earned the status or not. The global reputation and perception is believed due to the city’s “design actions” • a World Design Capital is not a status designator, rather a state of being. It is defined by the commitment that a city has made to use design to reinvent itself. Sustainable results or a commitment to develop the city are visible and a changing attitude is detectable

London, Paris and Milan are knows as Design cities.

Torino, Seoul and Helsinki are Design Capitals.

77 BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES

• gain visibility as a centre for creativity and innovation • attract investment and creative people • strengthen knowledge-based economic development • improve the quality of life in the city • position the city as a leading center of design • build global image as a must-see travel destination • take part in an international network of design • foster citizen pride in their city’s accomplishments

Long before Florence, Venice and several other towns became must see destinations of the 18th century Grand Tour, Rome had build its Coliseum, Babylon its hanging gardens and Alexandria its Lighthouse. Today visitors are more interested in Berlin, London or Paris for exhibitions, operas and theatre. Tourists have different interests and companies consider similar quality of life advantages when relocating or opening branch offices. These quality of life advantages are driven by some design initiatives like airports, modern hospitals, fiber optic networks, transport systems and other infrastructure.

Icsid believes that World Design Capitals will become a new economy destination for visitors and investors.

88 How Can Tourism/Destination Professionals Collaborate?

• cities work closely with tourism/destination teams to develop the WDC bid • tourism/destination professionals have the opportunity to initiate bids by introducing the initiative within their city • a year long celebration must hold a string of events that create local and international partnerships attracting visitors from all parts of the country, region and world • the financial melt-down and the recession around the world accelerated economic issues yet it also created new opportunities for the tourism industry to collaborate with governments. The WDC is one such opportunity

The great urbanist Jane Jacobs argued that the jostling of many different professions and different types of people in a dense environment is an essential spur to innovation – to the creation of things that are truly new and innovation in the long run, is what keeps cities vital and relevant. The WDC designation empowers a city to attract many types of people to a city.

9 INTERESTED CITIES - 2010 expressions of interest received from 20 cities for the 2010 designation

• Alfragide, Portugal • Lisboa, Portugal • Auckland, New Zealand • Malaga, Spain • Berlin, Germany • Melbourne, Australia • Bogotá, Colombia • Montreal, Canada • Brighton, United Kingdom • Paris, France • Chicago, United States • Seoul, South Korea • Dubai, United Arab Emirates • Singapore, Singapore • Frankfurt, Germany • Toronto, Canada • Glasgow, Scotland • Xinzhi, China • Hang Zhou, China • Yuseong, South Korea

1010 INTERESTED CITIES - 2012 at the close of the application period on 31 March 2009, 46 cities showed interest in the project and downloaded the application for the 2012 designation

• Almeirim, Portugal • Helsinki, Finland • Queretaro, Mexico • Auckland, New Zealand* • Indore, India • Riga, Latvia • Beijing, P.R.China • Istanbul, Turkey • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil • BeloHorizonte,Brazil • Johannesburg, South Africa • Sao Paulo, Brazil • Braga, Portugal • Kortrijk, Belgium • Saint-Petersburg, Russian • Brussels, Belgium • Lisboa, Portugal Federation • Cape Town, South Africa • Londrina, Brazil • San Jose, United Sates • Sarajevo, Bosnia and • Curitiba, Brazil • Loscoe, United Kingdom Herzegovina • Dhaka, Bangladesh • Milan, Italy • Savannah, Uganda • Eindhoven, Netherlands • Montreal, Canada* • Napier, New Zealand • Singapore, Singapore* • Glasgow, United Kingdom* • Neiva, Columbia • The Hague, Netherlands • Guadalajara, Mexico • Nottingham, United Kingdom • Thessaloniki, Greece • Guimaraes, Portugal • Portland, United States • Thiruvannamalai, India • Hamburg, Germany • Porto, Portugal • Toronto, Canada* • Hangzhou, China • Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela • Warsaw, Poland • Zapopan, Mexico

* Indicates cities that also downloaded the WDC application for the 2010 designation.

1111 WDC CRITERIA

a city must specify how it intends to: • highlight the importance of design in collaboration with Icsid • express the specific relevance of design for the quality of life in the city • ensure the mobilisation and participation of large sections of the population • promote the dialogue between the design community and other groups of the society • meet the international standards set by Icsid and build these into the WDC programme

1212 WDC TORINO 2008

• Torino, Italy was selected for the pilot project. A true success story, it has been synonymous with industry but has since adopted an aggressive transformation strategy at renovating the city and is a shining example of what can be accomplished harnessing the power of design.

www.torinoworlddesigncapital.it

Torino had a great story to tell. Its transformation from a manufacturing city to a city driven by its innovative design industries was first highlighted during the winter Olympics in 2006, an event which in itself, used design in many innovative ways from sign posting, to revamping its airport and most of its city infrastructure.

Torino may have in the past felt overshadowed by the larger, more well- known Italian cities that dominated among Europe's traditional design centres. The city was until very recently, defined predominantly by its local automotive industry, synonymous with its most famous resident, Fiat. In recent years Torino has experienced a remarkable change becoming a vibrant cosmopolitan city, the result of an aggressive transformation strategy aimed at renovating the city. With world-class architecture, a vibrant economy, and the trademark Italian dolce vita, Torino today embodies the true character of a World Design Capital.

1313 WDC TORINO 2008 in numbers

Final number of events in WDC calendar: 340 events in 365 days • Exhibitions: 137 • Contests: 20 • Events: 50 • Lectures: 22 • Conferences: 41 • Congresses: 10 • Presentations: 33 • Fairs: 3 • Workshops: 24

The WDC Torino 2008 designation attracted interest from numerous parts of the world as Torino solidified its position as a noteworthy centre for design rapidly increasing the number of design schools, promotional organisations, innovative and diversified creative industries, as well as the support of its local and regional municipal networks. A lively city of interest to visitors and investors, Torino as the WDC 2008 benefited from an increased awareness and appreciation for its accomplishments in design, which has helped not only the region, but the country.

The WDC designation helped to develop closer synergies with regional neighbours, as well as with other cities that want to collaborate, learn from best practise or who may also want to become future WDC designated cities.

The city aimed to put Torino and Piemonte region on the international map of design cities. The WDC Project helped spread the culture of planning throughout the country: with the people, in businesses, in education, in institutions. The legacy left a permanent mark on Torino, the Piemonte region and Italy.

1414 WDC TORINO 2008 in the media

• Remarkable also was the coverage by the media, with 3,250 articles in the national and international press for the period 2007/2008.

From a global perspective, the WDC Torino 2008 designation attracted interest from numerous parts of the world as Torino solidified its position as a noteworthy centre for design. Numerous articles, broadcasts and interviews covered the events that happened in Torino in 2008.

1515 Source: BBC World Report

16 WDC SEOUL 2010

Seoul's vision for 2010 is to share the dream of the U-Design City of tomorrow: • a sustainable city that is comfortable to live in and has a design industry and activities that are advanced in aesthetic, functional, environmental and social aspects (Universal) • a city of the future that allows for a seamless flow of communication to reach anybody, anywhere and anytime (Ubiquitous) • an attractive city that has a distinctive identity based on design assets (Unique) • a city that is created based on the participation of each citizen and their creativity (by U)

www.wdcseoul.kr

It is hard for a city to overnight create a great urban development project. However, Seoul’s Mayor has used several global best practices and created an Urban Revitalisation plan that is unique in Asia.

We all know of the best practices from cities such as Sydney – building its opera house in 1973 and Bilbao – opening its Guggenheim museum in 1997. However, Seoul’s ambitious urban development plan has the potential for a unique story when it changes the swathes of Seoul. Icsid wants the city to use the momentum gained during its WDC celebration and continue to reap social, cultural and economic benefits.

1717 WDC HELSINKI 2012

• announced during the closing ceremony of the Icsid World Design Congress in Singapore, Helsinki will move on to be the third city to hold the biennial designation in 2012 • for the City of Helsinki, design has for decades been a pivotal enabler to building an open city • tying design to innovation has enabled desirable solutions that have addressed the needs of its inhabitants

www.wdc2012helsinki.fi

Icsid wants each WDC to learn from the best practices of past WDCs so Helsinki has a very exciting strategy. Using the theme Embedded Design, the city will work with Icsid to revive its design activities by hosting a big celebration in 2012 and inviting the world to attend. Helsinki is already a design city, so what do they aim to gain from the designation?

Helsinki, Finland was awarded the WDC 2012 designation in 2009. In 2010 Newsweek named Finland ‘the best country in the world’. Based on scores for education, health, quality of life, economic dynamism and political stability. We believe that the first sparked the second.

Helsinki believes that successful cities must expect to go through several rebirths over time and they are investing heavily in partnership with all levels of government, Design industry and Tourism and Convention authorities to dazzle and regenerate a long tern ROI from the WDC year. The WDC designation will spark events not only in Helsinki but also in the 4 other neighboring municipalities. The governments have invested millions for the year long programme. To them, WDC is the important foundation for a reinvention test using design...... The 4 other cities are the metropolitan municipalities of Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti.

1818 Source: City of Helsinki WDC 2012

19 DESIGNATION PROCESS

the project cycle relating to the WDC designation is defined below: • application submissions • evaluation of applications • city visits • WDC Selection Committee deliberations • announcement of designated city

2020 Key dates 2010/2011

• October 2010 call for applications for WDC 2014 designation launched • March 2011 close of bid process • April–May initialreviewandscoringofapplications • July selection of shortlisted cities • August shortlisted city visits • September final selection by the selection committee • October announcementatIDACongressinTaiwan

2121 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

• through the WDC project, Icsid aims to foster a global movement of design- oriented cities • as the World Design Capital project grows, designated cities will be part of a worldwide network of cities who will collaborate and learn from each other’s experiences • the World Design Capital project is an opportunity to develop a cluster of design effective cities

Cities are durable. Most last longer than the countries that surround them. History shows that cities open to the world have benefited both from an exchange of goods and ideas and have flourished. There are many rich cities that have torn down building that reflect human scale and local history. Some claim that more damage was done to British cities by architects and planners in the 50s and 60s than all the bombing in the second world war. Unfortunately similar mistakes are still being repeated while adding new mistakes by not appreciating new information and especially environmental issues.

We know that people want all sorts of things from their city and neighbourhood. As Jane Jacobs said, people want the untidiness of having houses close to workplaces, shops next to flats and rich next to poor. But none of these things mean ugliness. Cities have spiritual needs to satisfy it citizens and Design is clearly a partner in this venture.

2222 Thank you! Dilki de Silva – [email protected] www.worlddesigncapital.com

Thank you!

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