Helsinki wins title of World Design Capital 2012

The City of Helsinki will be the World Design Capital of the year 2012. The designation was announced by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) at the ICSID World Design Congress in Singapore on Wednesday.
     
In the race for the title, Helsinki beat the Dutch City of Eindhoven, the other city selected for the shortlist of entries from among a total of 46 applicants worldwide.
      Helsinki was not applying for the title alone. Other Finnish candidates behind the joint application were Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, and Lahti.
      The title of Helsinki’s bid for the designation was Open Helsinki - Embedding Design in Life.
      Helsinki’s budget for the design year 2012 is approximately EUR 15 milllion.
     
The World Design Capital is a biennial designation given to a city that uses design to bring new life to the city and to develop its urban environment.
      The purpose of the title is to encourage cities to leverage design as a tool to improve their social, cultural, and economic life.
      The title was not bestowed on Helsinki on the basis of its design tradition but based on the promising content of the city’s application, introducing the Finnish capital’s numerous future projects.
     
The new Aalto University will be launched next year, and the construction of the new music centre in downtown Helsinki is to be completed in 2010 - in time for the opening ceremonies of the WDC 2012. Further urban projects include the new housing estates at Kalasatama and Jätkäsaari.
      The application also praised such recreational areas as the open-air museum of Seurasaari, Kaivopuisto (one of the oldest and best known parks in downtown Helsinki), as well as Central Park, the largest park in the Finnish capital.
     
Helsinki will be the third World Design Capital, following Turin in Italy (2008) and Seoul in South Korea (2010).
      “This is a magnificent achievement for Helsinki. It is an important recognition for us and our collaborators Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti, as well as for all the participating organizations and individuals. We have received a unique opportunity and will be taking every advantage of it, for both enjoyment and good for all,” the City of Helsinki website quotes Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen as saying when accepting the World Design Capital 2012 designation at the ICSID World Design Congress 2009.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Rivals by design: Helsinki vs. Eindhoven (24.11.2009)
  City of Helsinki wants to become World Design Capital 2012 (25.8.2009)

See also:
  Aalto University praised by Silicon Valley innovation expert (7.4.2009)

Links:
  World Design Capital Project
  University of Art and Design Helsinki
  City of Helsinki website