City of Cape Town is World Design Capital 2014

Cape Town will be World Design Capital in 2014. The appointment was announced on Wednesday 26 October 2011 at the International Design Alliance Congress, which was held in Taipei. The award was received by Patricia de Lille, Executive Mayor of Cape Town.

Cape Town will be the fourth World Design Capital, following in the footsteps of Torino (2008), Seoul (2010) and Helsinki (2012). The status is designated every other year to one city somewhere in the world.

The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) is responsible for appointing the World Design Capital. The designation is given to a city that uses design to promote social, cultural and economic development.

The City of Cape Town aims to use design to promote integration in the city. The winning entry emphasises socially responsible design, sustainability and innovation.

“The application process in itself was of great benefit to us. It helped us to bring several different initiatives together and made us aware of the opportunities that design brings to urban development. We are honoured to join Torino, Seoul and Helsinki,” the Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, said in her acceptance speech.

The international Selection Committee chose Cape Town, Bilbao and Dublin for the final round. On the Selection Committee Jussi Pajunen, Mayor of the City of Helsinki, represented the cities of the world. Other committee members were Icsid President, Mark Breitenberg, UNCTAD Chief, Edna dos Santos-Duisenberg, Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Jeremy Myerson, and CEO of elephant design, Kohei Nishiyama.