Cape Town wins World Design Capital title

Design may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think Cape Town.

But the city’s strides in urban planning, energy solutions and social change won it the honour this week of being named World Design Capital for 2014.

Accepting the title in Taipei, Cape Town’s mayor Patricia de Lille explained that through innovation in design, her city has worked to overcome South Africa’s legacy of Apartheid. “In South Africa, cities were designed over decades to divide people,” she said in her acceptance speech. “But since our new democratic era, we have been focused on trying to bring people together, to create a sustainable city that fosters real social inclusion.”

Cape Town’s tourism industry is hoping for a boost from this award. The city plans to launch a marketing campaign portraying Cape Town as a place for businesses, universities and tourists to “visit, invest, learn, live and work in”, said Tourism CEO Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold.

BBC Travel