DEMOEV 2021

With the rapid growth of the design discipline and its implementation within and outside the design community, design-related practice and policy have attracted the attention of academics, professionals and political leaders around the world. Major economies around the world, such as China, India, the EU, the UK and the US, have developed specific national strategies and plans to promote design and design-led innovation in order to support national industries and to spur an even wider socio-economic development (Hobday et al., 2012), meanwhile, many international policy bodies and organisations are also working together to try to integrate design into the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals. A good example is the Montreal Design Declaration, issued by a group of UN specialised bodies (e.g. UNESCO and UNEP) and international design organisations (e.g. ICO-D and BEDA).

The World Design Organisation (WDO) is one of the most important change agents on the international scene for promoting good design and design-led development. Formerly known as the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), it was founded in 1957. It is now an international non-governmental organisation with over 170 member organisations, dedicated to promoting and sharing knowledge of industrial design-driven innovation that improves the economic, social, cultural and environmental quality of life.

The World Design Capital (WDC) is a global initiative of the WDO held in different cities around the world every two years to showcase best practices in sustainable design-led urban policy and innovation through a year-long programme of events by the designated city. Since 2008, eight cities around the world have been selected through a bidding process to become WDCs, including Turin (2008), Seoul (2010), Helsinki (2012), Cape Town (2014), Taipei (2016), Mexico City (2018) and Lille Metropole (2020).

In September 2019, Valencia, Spain's third largest city, achieved the WDC2022 nomination over its rivals thanks to “[its] effective and strategic use of design in public policy and the beneficial impact on industries, infrastructures and mobility…”. As a commitment in the World Design Capital bid, an observatory will be created to monitor and evaluate the socio-economic impact of design on the city and its citizens in the pursuit of sustainable development goals through design-driven innovation.

Therefore, the Research Unit in Cultural Economics (Econcult) of the Universitat de València is assigned to carry out a series of WDC2022 impact studies in order to assess and monitor the impact and effects of WDC-related events and activities, thus supporting a lasting legacy of the WDC initiative based on a sustainable approach.

The series of WDC2022 impact studies will consist of seven quarterly reports to be published between July 2021 and May 2023, each focusing on a specific impact assessment topic or dimension, and a final report on the combined impact of WDC2022 in September 2023.

This text is designed to develop a holistic evaluation framework that can guide the forthcoming evaluation and monitoring work during the preparation, implementation and closure phases of WDC2022, and to report on the preliminary results of the surveys to citizens and professional designers to build an initial understanding of the outreach activities and short-term impact of WDC2022.

design, economy, development, WDC2022

• Chuan Li - Universitat de València
• Aitana Cabedo
• Inés Carreres
• Fernando Álvarez Teresa