The title would give Cape Town a chance to highlight its achievements and aspirations through a yearlong programme of design-led events and activities as titleholders Seoul and Helsinki will do this year and in 2012 respectively.
The decision to bid for the World Design Capital in 2014 was motivated by several key considerations. Firstly, the vision of where the city sees itself in the next 5-20 years, which has inspired some vision-setting exercises for the Cape Town brand. Key bodies like Accelerate Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism have led this process. The past few years have also seen the emergence of different state and private urban development projects that indicate how Cape Town may develop.
It also possesses many assets that would enable the city to become a world design capital. It has a history of hosting big events like Africa's internationally acclaimed design asset Design Indaba, the World Economic Forum and Cape Town Jazz Festival to mention a few. Many creative industries are concentrated in the city, with a high level of design related companies and design leaders. There will be a new infrastructure left by the 2010 World Cup: the new international airport terminal, a new train station, a new stadium and the beginnings of a more efficient public transport system.
There is broad recognition that the answer to Cape Town's development challenges lie in the design of the cityscape itself as well as the design of its processes. The city has witnessed this in projects like the IRT transport project, the Oude Molen eco village, sinking the Cape Town Station, the Reclaim Camissa initiative and others that encourage Capetonians to engage with the process of redesigning the city. Furthermore, there is a strong desire to foster an environment where innovation thrives in initiatives such as East City Design Initiative, Cape Town Activa, Bandwidth Barn and Silicon Cape.
World Design Capital is the beginning of a process aimed at transforming perceptions about the city. As part of this process, Mayor Dan Plato is sending a senior delegation to Seoul where it will participate in the World Design Cities' Summit, which forms part of Seoul's celebration of its designation as World Design Capital 2010. This senior delegation comprises Alderman Felicity Purchase, from the mayor's economic development and tourism office; Bulelwa Makalima Ngewana, deputy CEO of Cape Town Partnership and Lianne Burton, marketing director of Cape Town Tourism.
If you have thoughts around the notion of Cape Town as a design city, you now have a blank canvas on which you can show us what this design city could look like in 2014. Visit the World Design Capital stand at Design Indaba Conference from 24-26 February at the CTICC or go to www.capetown2014.co.za.
