Montreal (Canada) 11 June 2019 – The World Design Organization (WDO)® today announced that Bengaluru (India) and Valencia (Spain) have been shortlisted to become World Design Capital® (WDC) 2022 in their pursuit to be recognized for the participatory value of design-led innovation in their cities.
The shortlist was established by the WDC 2022 Selection Committee comprising international experts in design or cities economic and social development.
“Both these cities, have very different design histories and urban challenges yet both are inspiring cases that reflect the impact of design on the wellbeing of their communities,” stated Luisa Bocchietto, WDO President and member of the WDC Selection Committee. “For WDO, the merit of the WDC programme is that it aims to leverage a city’s particular design narrative, as well as promotes the diversity of design practices worldwide.”
As shared in their respective bids, Bengaluru, once known as Bangalore, is an emerging city that is driven by urgent needs to address a variety of local challenges through design, whilst Valencia is poised to demonstrate a rich and vibrant history of design effective initiatives.
Following this announcement, both cities will be visited by WDO representatives to gain further knowledge of the design communities supporting each bid. The final selection will be announced on 11 October 2019 in Hyderabad (India) during WDO’s 31st World Design Assembly™.
2022 will mark the eighth cycle for the World Design Capital programme – a biennial designation that recognizes cities for their effective use of design to drive economic, social, cultural, and environmental development. Previous designations include Torino (2008), Seoul (2010), Helsinki (2012), Cape Town (2014), Taipei (2016), Mexico City (2018) and Lille Metropole in WDC 2020.
For more information, please contact:
Eric Lauwers, WDC Programme Manager, T: +1 514 448 4949 ext. 222, eric@wdo.org
Khatidja Kassam, Communications Officer, T: +1 514 448 4949 ext. 223, khatidja@wdo.org
About WDO
The World Design Organization (WDO)®, formerly the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1957 to promote the profession of industrial design. WDO advocates industrial design driven innovation that creates a better world, engaging more than 150 member organizations in collaborative efforts and carrying out international programming—World Design Capital®, World Design Talks™, World Design Impact Prize, World Industrial Design Day™, and Interdesign™. WDO has United Nations Special Consultative Status.
About World Design Capital®
World Design Capital® (WDC), designated every two years by the World Design Organization (WDO)®, to recognize 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, 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 Metropole (France) has been awarded the designation for 2020.
