Cape Town made it!

Cape Town received the welcome news that the city has been short-listed for World Design Capital 2014.

From a team of 56 hopefuls, Cape Town now stands alongside just two other world cities, Dublin and Bilbao, in the race to earn the World Design Capital title, which will be announced in October 2011. Cape Town is the first city in Africa to come this close to being named a World Design Capital, a designation which bears prestigious status. 

The biennial award is bestowed by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) on cities dedicated to using design for their social, economic and cultural development. A World Design Capital designation gives a winning city global focus during a year-long programme of design-led events, and Cape Town is bidding for the 2014 opportunity. Previous winners include Turin (2008) and Seoul (this year’s title-holder), while Helsinki will be World Design Capital in 2012. 

With Cape Town’s theme being “Live Design. Transform Life”, the City of Cape Town has mandated the Cape Town Partnership to coordinate the City’s bid, and a vital network of partners from local and provincial government, creative-industry organisations and institutions, the media and leaders in local design have come together to lend support to the initiative. 

At a symbolic handover of the World Design Capital 2014 bid book in Cape Town last week, Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said: “We’re building an inclusive city – one based around five pillars: the opportunity city, the safe city, the caring city, the inclusive city and the efficient city. Design is a tool for all of these areas of building a truly inclusive city. It’s able to inform us as to how we can best provide employment and upliftment to improve the quality of life of our citizens.”

Show your support by downloading a supporter button from www.capetown2014.co.za and join the Cape Town for World Design Capital fan page on Facebook.