WDC candidature as a motor for a regional development.
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Income support measures
Urban Transformation
People’s participation
Innovation on market
Expert competence
Design methods to generate ideas
Participatory process
Institutional Capacity
Cultural Vibe
Feasibility analysis phase
The Candidacy of València as the World Capital of Design 2022 is a design community-led campaign, supported by regional and municipal governments, for the candidature of World Design Capital 2022. The aims of the initiative are to evoke the potential of design as a fundamental motor to the development of regional economy, society and culture by a series of programmes related to design and innovation under the umbrella of world design capital.
Identifying the strategic role of design, the creative feature of Valencia city and the public demand of urban residents, the project team, which is composed of prestigious and experienced designers, cultural managers and scholars, has been generating and developing the ideas by means of design thinking and other design tools and methods and, especially, emphasizes co-creation and participatory processes based on the engagement of citizens. “World Design Capital (WDC), designated every two years by the World Design Organization, recognizes cities for their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development. Through a year-long programme of events, the designated city showcases best practices in sustainable design-led urban policy and innovation that improve quality of life. Previous WDCs include Torino (Italy) in 2008, followed by Seoul (South Korea) in 2010, Helsinki (Finland) in 2012, Cape Town (South Africa) in 2014, and Taipei (Taiwan, Chinese Taipei) in 2016. Mexico City (Mexico) holds the title for 2018 and Lille (France) has been awarded the designation for 2020.
Aims:
1. City branding – recognize Valencia as a Mediterranean city with a high-quality of lifestyle and sociability.
2. Strengthen city´s capacity on creativity and innovation by fostering solid connection between institutional structure, cultural institutions and businesses with the help of the leverage of social function of design.
3. Attract talent and foreign direct investment.
4. Achieve economic development of the city by transforming a new business model.
5. Improve external fame and image of the city
6. Promote self-esteem of citizens
Specific context: Conventional mode of urban development based on costly investments and events has witnessed its crisis of legitimacy because of the latest economic crisis. The city of Valencia and its citizens is seeking for new mode of urban regeneration and identifying design as potential drive of city development.
1. It is recognized that the pillar industries of Valencia, such as furniture, textile, lighting, video games and gastronomy etc., are design-oriented.
2. Valencia has been becoming a creative and innovative hub where creative talents get together thanks to continuous improvement of local ecosystem of cultural and creative industries.
3. Since 1980s, industrial policy of the city has been developed to favour SMEs, whose growth and scalability are greatly reliant on the process of innovation and social function in which design can and should play a decisive role.
4. It is also identified, in Valencia, that public awareness and attitude to the reality of design is the key to success of from institutional planning to urban development.
Domain of actions
Description of the solution space.
Object of Innovation
Description of the main focus of innovation: product/service, process, market and/or organization.
Design Competence
Description of the involved design competence.
Design Methods
Description of the design approaches used throughout the project.
Relation to the Urbanscape
Description of the urbanscape relevant to the project.
Project Development Phase
Description of the current phase in the project process.
