“The Identity of a City” will be the theme of the poster design competition simultaneously and respectively launched by the seven design cities of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in 2010. Based on the theme, we aim to produce images that illustrate things that have made, do make, or will make a city unique.

Our 2009 workshop highlighted the question of how to make use of the dormant assets of a city looking to the future, which is relevant to the theme of this competition as well.  The international design forum held in Nagoya last November was attended by the delegates from six member cities, individuals with various cultural backgrounds from Asia, South America, North America and Europe. It served well as a venue in which to discuss the significance of the Network, based on the keywords, “sustainability” and “design”.  The UCCN’s annual meeting was held in Lyon, France last June. There, delegates from the 17 member cities in seven categories converged.  It was clear there that the history and culture of a city can not be consolidated into a single field; each one of these cities had put energy into making a creative city without confining itself to any one particular domain. In addition, continuing progress was obvious in the fact that Asian cities like Changchun, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Seoul held conferences themed “Design City”, “Creative City” and “City Branding”.

The CODE poster design competition is the first joint program launched by the UCCN design cities in which Shanghai, appointed a design city in March, 2010, is included. It is a local competition, in which each city controls its own call for entries, leading to a global, multipolar expansion; each participant city around the world will hold a joint exhibition. This project is truly a unique effort, symbolizing UCCN’s networking. We envision the creation of a platform that can provide the opportunities to develop education as well as industry by initiating an exchange of knowledge, technology and human resources both domestically and internationally through the UCCN and its various Asian cities.

Creative Design City Nagoya Organizing Committee
Constituent organizations: City of Nagoya, Nagoya Chamber of Commerce & Industry, International Design Center, NAGOYA Inc., Council of Chubu Design Organizations催構成団体

■Creative Design City Nagoya 2009 Major Projects

International Design Forum
From Now On: Envisioning Nagoya’s Future on the Large Scale and the Small
Part 1: International New Designers Workshop Public Presentations
Part 2: Keynote Address “Towards a Synergy-of-Synergies” by John Wood /Prof., Goldsmiths, University of London

Part 3: Panel Discussion by member cities of the UNESCO Creative Design Cities Network
Fri., November 27 2009 (Design Hall)
International Design Forum “From Now On: Envisioning Nagoya’s Future on the Large Scale and the Small” (Event Schedule)

International New Designers Workshop
From Now On: Envisioning Nagoya’s Future on the Large Scale and the Small
Participants, from Japan and abroad, were young designers of the next generation and students. Working with the keyword “sustainability” in Nagoya, they searched for the dormant assets of a city under the concept, “Things that we want to preserve”, “Things that must be preserved”, and “Things to convey”.
Sat., November 21 2009 – Fri., November 27 2009 (IdcN and Nagoya area)
International New Designers Workshop “From Now On: Envisioning Nagoya’s Future on the Large Scale and the Small” (Event Schedule)

Exhibition “UNESCO CREATIVE CITIES NETWORK”
This exhibition served as an introduction of the creative urban improvements of eight cities.
Wed., November 25 2009 – Mon., December 7 2009 (Design Gallery)

■International Participation
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Conference
Representatives delivered a presentation concerning past and future activities and shared opinions about promotional activities and dialogue among member cities.
Sun., June 14 2009 – Wed., June 17 2009 (Lyon, France)

The Second Annual Asian City Forum
Representatives made a presentation about Network-related activities in Nagoya, exchanged opinions about cultural policies and branding strategies, and shared information for the purpose of future networking.
Sun., August 16 2009 – Mon., August 17 2009 (Changchun, China)

The 2009 Shenzhen International Design Forum “Shared Value – Future of Design in Globalization”
Representing the City of Nagoya, Toshinori Kamiya, a member of the Concept Planning Committee of Creative Design City Nagoya 2009, participated in the forum and made a presentation concerning Nagoya’s internationally oriented design activities.
Sat., October 10 2009 – Mon., October 12 2009 (Shenzhen, China)

The 5th Shanghai International Creative Industry Week
Conference: Creativity & World Expo
On the occasion of the opening ceremony, a representative of the City of Nagoya delivered a presentation concerning design activities in Nagoya relating to its position as a member of the UNESCO Creative Design Cities Network of Design. In the Conference: Creativity & World Expo, a roundtable meeting, we explored the possibility of member cities working together towards the opening of Expo 2010 Shanghai China. We also introduced Nagoya design activities.
Thu., October 15 2009 – Sat.,  October 17 2009 (Shanghai, China)

The Cities of Design Forum in KOBE
Representing the City of Nagoya, Takayuki Ikegawa, a member of the Concept Planning Committee of Creative Design City Nagoya 2009, attended the Forum and introduced the history and the design activities of Nagoya that led to its declaration as a “design city” in 1989.
Tue., November 24 2009 (Kobe, Japan)

The 2nd WDC (World Design Capital) World Design Cities Summit
Attendees were mayors and representatives of design-related organizations from major cities located mainly in Asia. The roundtables and session meetings engendered lively discussion and debate.
Tue., February 23 2010 – Wed., February 24 2010 (Seoul, Korea)

(First appearance: IdcN Annual Report 2009 (June, 2010) *Edited)

*For more information, please visit CDCN’s website.