/ 21 June 2011

Cape Town shortlisted for Design Capital 2014

Cape Town has won a place on the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design's short list for World Design Capital 2014.

Cape Town, along with Dublin, Ireland and Bilbao, Spain has won a place on the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID)’s short list for the World Design Capital 2014.

The title is awarded every two years 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”.

The current holder of the title is Seoul, South Korea with Helsinki, Finland already named as the 2012 World Design Capital.

The ICSID said the three finalists were commended for their entries, which highlighted 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”.

Creative campaigning
Cape Town’s bid for the title has been a joint effort between the City of Cape Town, the Central City Improvement District, and the Cape Town Partnership. The bid is supported by partners from local and provincial government, creative industry organisations and institutions, academia and the media.

The official website states: “Ours is a proudly African bid, with the ultimate goal of achieving a sustainable, inclusive and more liveable African city, rooted in the strengths of our people and communities — to ‘Live Design. Transform Life’.”

Cape Town’s executive mayor, Patricia de Lille, said, “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.”

She added: “The creative industries make up an extremely important part of our local economy.”

De Lille emphasised the value a title such as World Design Capital holds in exposing talents and developing local industry.

The official announcement of the World Design Capital 2014 winner will take place on October 26.