This July, the WDO, a non-governmental organisation that selects the World Design Capital every two years, will organise an official visit to Valencia to collect information about the city and the project, which will be taken into account in the final assessment by the Selection Committee, whose definitive decision regarding the winning city will be announced in October.
The signing ceremony will take place during the first third of 2020 and, from then on, the schedule will be planned. 2022 will be marked by the year-long programme of events established by the Associació Valencia Capital del Disseny, promoter of this bid.
Valencia’s bid, which is articulated around the slogan “The Mediterranean design of Valencia. Design for change, design for the senses”, appeals to a way of looking with geographical, but also aesthetic, ethical, philosophical and political implications. The jury has valued very positively the “mature status of Valencian design” for this selection.
The transversal programme of the Valencia World Design Capital bid includes a full schedule of events that will cover all the design disciplines, from industrial design to the design of spaces, through architecture and the design of services and interfaces. The aim is to coordinate the schedule with the cultural agenda of the city to fill it with design and to bring design as close as possible to the residents.
Thus, from January to December, every month will be defined by an overall topic based on four types of events: exhibitions, congresses, workshops and talks. The focus will be centred on contents such as design in the face of climate change, Mediterranean design, the commitment of design to gender equality, the history of design, discourse based on design, industrial development and design and nature, among others.
The cities chosen as World Design Capital in previous years are Turin (Italy) in 2008, Seoul (South Korea) in 2010, Helsinki (Finland) in 2012, Cape Town (South Africa) in 2014, Taipei (Taiwan) in 2016, Mexico City in 2018 and Lille (France) which is preparing its celebration for 2020.