By Marica

It was an exciting past week for the city of Cape Town as we received and entertained the World Design Capital organising committee. Rose and I have proudly been rooting Team Yellow since Cape Town entered their bid for World Design Capital 2014 in March of this year, and we were equally ecstatic when Cape Town (along with Bilbao, Spain and Dublin, Ireland) was announced as one of the three finalists in July (YAY!).

For those you unaware of exactly what this big hoo-ha is about or how it can benefit us as South Africans – here is the skinny: The title of World Design Capital is awarded bi-annually by the ICSID (International Council for Societies of Industrial Design) to give international recognition to cities that use design for their social, economic and cultural development. Previous World Design Capitals include Torino, Italy in 2008; Seoul, South Korea in 2010 and Helsinki, Finland was elected as WD Capital for 2012.

The CTWDC 2014 website specify that the World Design Capital title is awarded in advance to allow the winning city sufficient time to plan, develop and promote a year-long programme of design-related events for their designated year. With the bold motto: “Live Design. Transform Life”, Cape Town’s bid endeavours to be “proudly African”, with the end objective of achieving a “sustainable, inclusive and more liveable African city, rooted in the strengths of our people and communities”.

Being “crowned” as a World Design Capital can also attract international investments & partnerships and can establish Cape Town as a popular tourist destination. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be view as a major global design force?!

The winning city will be announced in October and until then Mzanzi, I urge you to wear those yellow badges with pride – support Cape Town as World Design Capital 2014 (I want to see some #wdc2014 Tweets, blogs and Facebook mentions). It’s all about enriching our community and making Cape Town a better place to live. Visit the Cape Town 2014 website for more info and some awesome articles and updates. I also noticed on Visi and Elle Decoration’s blog some awesome Cape Town WDC2014 pride, be sure to check it out.

Info and Images sourced from: Cape Town 2014 & World Design Capital