By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
City mayors worldwide have decided to hold the Global Design Cities Summit every two years in order to share their visions for design. Seoul will serve as secretariat to manage the summit, decided mayors and other participants of the WDC World Design Cities Summit, which was held Tuesday and Wednesday.
They announced the Seoul Declaration of Design City, Wednesday, which recognizes the necessity for regular cooperation and international gatherings.
According to the document, the Seoul Design Lab will be launched to serve as the secretariat. The body will announce the host city for the 2011 summit at the closing ceremony of the Seoul Design Fair scheduled for October.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the summit was the world's recognition of Seoul as a powerhouse of design. "Tokyo used to hold the title for quite a long time in East Asia. However, since Seoul City adopted 'design management' in 2007, we have stepped up to the same or higher status than Tokyo and other cities," Oh said.
Refuting criticism that the policy is a measure to "show off," Oh stressed that design can revitalize the economy.
"We have seen the successful transformation of Gateshead, a former coalmine town in England, and Kumamoto, a Japanese rural province, by bringing public design into their administration. Design can upgrade the simple concept of needlework to fashion design, and electronics assembly to digital design." he said.
"People have become 'emotional consumers' who buy and use things in a very different way from the old way of looking at price tags or functions only. They feel and receive impressions through the purchase. Our effort is paying off, with the sales of design-adapted goods growing."
World-renown experts also said they were impressed with the changes in Seoul.
Chris Wainwright, the head of the University of Arts London, commented, "Construction, painting and craftsmanship aren't the only considerations for design. It could be very small things ㅡ making up your minds on what to wear, how to write a note and many others.
"I was able to notice some noticeable progress in the city already. I hope citizens of Seoul will mix their own historical, cultural and other backgrounds to make their own design philosophy and be proud to be Seoulites," he said.
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