Making the city better by design is the guiding principle behind Cape Town's bid to be World Design Capital 2014, writes Lorelle Bell.

Cape Town really is a tale of two cities: One a postcard narrative of wild beauty and sophisticated cosmopolitanism, the other a story of poverty and urban degradation.

What links the two is the people of the city, some four million inhabitants who share much the same hopes, depend on the same resources and whose future prospects are inseparable.

If in the past they were divided by design, it is by design – a reshaping of the cityscape – that a safer, more efficient and fairer home for all its residents can be forged.

Like many cities the world over, Cape Town is grappling with the needs of a burgeoning urban population on one hand, and on the other of the investors and businesses that are indispensable to fuelling the economic growth the whole population depends on.

What we know is that cities that work are sustainable ones that prioritise people – their engagement with the city and their connection with and ease of access to jobs, services, education and cultural and leisure activities. Key issues are public transport, denser and safer accommodation, and vibrant public spaces.

Design is at the heart of all these things.

This, in a nutshell, is the thinking behind Cape Town's bid, which carries the tagline: "Live Design, Transform Life", to be the World Design Capital of 2014.

Global project promotes value of design
World Design Capital is a global project of the non-profit International Council for Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), launched in 2008 to promote the value of design in managing and reshaping cities.

Recognising that more than half the world's population now lives in urban areas, World Design Capital aims to show how design can address the challenges arising out of unprecedented urbanisation.

One of the mechanisms for acknowledging cities that succeed in doing this is the biennial conferring of World Design Capital status on a city. The award is made to cities that are committed to using design in addressing challenges and implementing their vision, and allows the designated city to showcase its design achievements and aspirations through a yearlong programme of design-led events and activities.

The bidding process for the 2014 award is about to open, giving contending cities an opportunity to submit an application detailing their design assets, as well as their vision and plans. From these submissions two cities will be shortlisted, the finalists then being required to expand on their proposals. The second-round judging process includes a visit by an Icsid panel, and the winning city will be announced in 2012.

While cities bidding for the prestigious award are not publicly announced, it is understood that Bilbao and a number of Chinese cities are in the running. Cape Town may not have a Frank Gehry Guggenheim, or the budgets of the Chinese contenders, but its strengths are numerous and its potential impressive.

The city's unique setting is complemented by its culturally diverse population, which gives it a rich creolised character. Cape Town's cuisine, music, dance and language reflect this rich variety, as does its wealth of good designers and designs.

The CBD alone is home to more than a thousand creative-industry enterprises, nearly half of which are design-related. They include large architecture and urban-design practices, advertising agencies and IT companies, as well as smaller enterprises in the fashion, jewellery and surface design fields.

The leading-edge international design conference and expo, Design Indaba, has been held annually in Cape Town for the past 14 years and the annual Toffie Popular Culture Festival, launched in 2009, offers workshops on a wide range of design disciplines.

More importantly, the city has a compelling story to tell, particularly in how it is using design to overcome the huge challenges created or deepened by apartheid.

Learning to reconnect
After a long past of divisiveness, the story of Cape Town since 1994 has been about learning to reconnect.

For the past decade the inner city has been the centre of a major regeneration project, driven and funded by a private/public partnership.

For instance, the restoration of District Six to its historic claimants and redevelopment of the area is underway, albeit painstakingly slowly and beset with political challenges. The area linking it to the Central City is, however, enjoying a rapid reawakening.

The East City, as it's called, is occupied by an increasing number of creative industry enterprises, as well as artists, musicians and writers, and theatres, coffee shops and restaurants – reprising the precinct's role as the centre of creativity in the city.

This is also where the East City Design Initiative is planned, an innovation hub focused on design that will provide the space and impetus for those in creative industries to benefit from the growing knowledge economy.

For decades the clothing and textile sector, with a base in the suburbs of Salt River and Woodstock, was a robust industry and a major contributor to the Cape economy. When this failed, the area degenerated.

But, like many cities worldwide that have used design to revive locales, this precinct is experiencing a process of regeneration, led in large part by the presence of designers and design-related businesses.

Of benefit to us all
Cape Town needs to get better at communicating its design assets and achievements and sharing its design know-how so that best practices can be replicated.

Bidding for the World Design Capital award can help it communicate design innovations. Most importantly, the award can help in getting design into the public domain, and in mobilising the city around using design for social change.

Design is often popularly associated with expensive lifestyle commodities. Fundamentally, however, it should be understood in terms of its solution-finding, problem-solving, transformative potential. This is the key to Cape Town's bid for World Design Capital 2014.

In an emerging society like ours, this potential is critical. Design understanding and skills can help Cape Town to address challenges created by its past and enhance the standard of living for everyone into the future.

The message is simple: A commitment to design, and design knowledge and training, which the award of World Design Capital offers, will benefit us all.

Take note: Cape Town for World Design Capital 2014 is looking for existing or planned projects that use design, as well as planned design-related events, for inclusion in the Bid Book. If you have any projects to share, please email lorelle@capetownpartnership.co.za. For more information, go to www.capetown2014.co.za.