In late October, PLAYGROUND was  invited to attend a lecture from Karl Stocker of Creative Industries Styria at the College for Creative Studies. This international organization is responsible for implementing the city of Graz with its own UNESCO designation. The lecture event was organized by the Detroit Design Corridor Center, [Dc3] now responsible for obtaining and implementing the strategy for Detroit’s City of Design. This designation identifies the city’s design legacy and commitment to promote cultural and creative industries.

Detroit is the first American city to be named a UNESCO City of Design, joining 116 other global cities in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.

Some of the requirements for admission to become a UNESCO City of Design include an established design industry, developed cultural scene with adequate buildings, having design schools and design research centers, an active creative scene [duh!], design-oriented trade shows, events, & exhibitions, and design-oriented industries. The objective of becoming a UNESCO City of Design “strengthens international cooperation between cities that have recognized creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable development, stimulates and enhances initiatives led by these cities to make creativity an essential component if urban development, and promotes the creation, production, and dissemination of cultural activities, goods, and services.” It also “develops hubs of creativity and innovation and broadens opportunities for creators and professionals in the cultural sector.”

The application to UNESCO was put forth by DC3, the five-year-old network founded by Business Leaders for Michigan and committed to fostering creative fields in the state. It included a video by Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Stephen McGee that highlighted the city’s historic and present-day relationship with design. Watch the bid video below, with an incredible soundtrack of all Detroit-produced music tracks listed below, courtesy of ASSEMBLE Sound.

“Detroit: City of Design” Detroit Creative Corridor presents a film by Stephen McGee from Detroit Design Festival on Vimeo.

Featuring Music By DERRICK MAY, FLINT EASTWOOD, HUMONS, NIGEL & THE DROPOUT, JEEDO
NEW MUSIC DETROIT, Vocalist SHARA WORDEN, EDDIE LOGIX, & MONTY LUKE, via ASSEMBLE SOUND.

Congratulations to DC3 for pushing the nomination bid, and the City of Detroit for becoming part of this exciting network to promote the cultural history and future of this city.

The post DETROIT ANNOUNCED AS FIRST US CITY TO RECEIVE THE UNESCO ‘CITY OF DESIGN’ TITLE appeared first on PLAYGROUND DETROIT.