This morning I attended a SAPOA breakfast in Cape Town. One of the speakers was Bulelwa Makalimia Ngewana of the the Cape Town Partnership . She gave an interesting synposis of the Cape Town bid to become the design capital capital in 2014. What was interesting is that the Cape Town Bid revolves around people and design , unlike what the other competitors - namely Bilbao and Dublin are saying . And she was right in underlining that we often pay insufficient attention to design when developing infrastructure and housing - especially when providing infrastructure and housing for the poor. While it can be argued that winning such a bid is not critical to Cape Town and that we have other priorities , there is a strong argument to suggest that it would play an important role in bringing home the view that good urban design improves lives . I am sure that creating well designed suburbs plays a role in creating happier places - and if that is so, winning the 2014 race is important .
Have a look at the website.
http://www.capetown2014.co.za/Francois
Posted by Viruly Consulting.