Exploring Design towards a Sustainable City: Through the lens of Cape Town as World Design Capital 2014

[摘要] ENLISH SUMMARY: This study is an exploration of the relationship between advancing technological revolutions andsocio‐metabolic transitions, evolving global design movements, sustainability, and cities, through thelens of Cape Town as World Design Capital (WDC) 2014, making use of a case study methodology.The WDC2014 used the slogan 'Live Design. Transform Life'. and it will be explored what contributedtowards this approach and whether this approach, focussing on social inclusion and economicdevelopment, contributed towards sustainability.A survey of the main categories of design – product, communications, spatial, service, systems, andsocio‐political design, as well as the historic design movements coupled to the five technologicalrevolutions ‐ reveals that Design has frequently been enlisted in the service of different ideologies,such as Imperialism, Modernism, Consumerism, and Neoliberalism. The outcomes of the designindustry, therefore, have significant ethical implications. In addition, intimate interaction existsbetween Design and its surrounding socio‐political‐economic context. Upon examining the evolutionin the design of cities, these same observations are evident. An examination of the sustainabilitychallenges of cities – environmental, social and economic – reveals that Design has often notcontributed to sustainability, but has rather been a handmaiden towards social inequity andpolarisation, and ecological damage and loss. Eight 'Design Cities' and 3 World Design Capitals arestudied, to identify those factors that attracted design activity and expression, their designcontribution, their outcomes and legacy.More recently there is a trend to apply Design in service of human‐centeredness and sustainability,but in the case of cities it is particularly apparent that there is strong pull of forces between such asense of conscience (people and planet), and the quest to establish a city as a centre of power,attracting investment, trade, tourism, and the Creative Class, as well as applying technology to themanagement and identity of cities.Considering Cape Town as a case study reveals that the city bears the imprint and the unsustainableconsequences of many of the design movements and their linked ideologies ‐ in its segregated urbanform, splintered social construct, and environmental challenges. Some of these outcomes are wickedproblems, which City Management is attempting to redress, but within the ambit of Neoliberalism(thus addressing the symptoms, while the real problem continues unrestrained). Cape Town's design community, perhaps 2 percent of the city population, is profiled, as well as thecity's Bid for, the rollout, and outcomes of World Design Capital. While Cape Town's socio‐spatialchallenges were reflected in the Bid, very little of ecological challenges were mentioned. A goodcitizen response and meaningful City projects and Ward co‐design workshops reflected a shift from20th Century indulgent design to 21st Century responsible design – a significant year‐longintervention, which contributed in measure to a greater appreciation and awareness of the valuablecontribution that Design could make. However, for design to fundamentally address unsustainabilityin this city, an activist Sustainability Design Movement is needed, taking full cognisance of the threespheres of sustainability.Viewing Cape Town through the lens of the long‐wave technological and socio‐metabolic cycles, andunfolding design movements, assists in understanding the city and the WDC's intervention andapproach to its present state. It is also a useful lens through which to interpret its future trajectory.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University