Design Reframing Growth: WDCC 2024 Spearheads Global Innovation Wave

Shanghai is set to host a global convergence of design wisdom. The World Design Cities Conference 2024 (WDCC 2024) will unfold from September 27th to 30th in Huangpu District. Under the theme “Design Reframing Growth,” the conference aims to showcase how design drives industrial innovation and urban development.

Co-organized by UNESCO and the Shanghai government, WDCC 2024 will serve as a global design trendsetter, innovation curator, and new product launch platform. The conference will present a comprehensive “12345+X” structure: 1 opening ceremony, 2 main venues (Shanghai and Milan), 3 main forums, 4 industrial ecology special sessions, and 5 professional design forums, plus X online and offline activities.

The conference will bring together nearly 1,000 design industry organizations, inviting internationally renowned scholars, design masters, and business leaders. Tech giants like Huawei and Tesla will showcase their latest design achievements, demonstrating how design leads industrial transformation. Studios from international design capitals, including Milan, will also participate, bringing a global perspective to Shanghai.

The 2024 World Design Cites Conference, themed “Design, Reframing Growth,” focuses on discussing “design” as a new-quality productive force and innovation engine, aiming for systemic and holistic reshaping and reconstruction of high-quality development in economy, industry, society, and the environment.

A key component of this discussion is the main exhibition held at the Dingbo Building in the World Expo Best Urban Practices Area. The exhibition spans three floors, with 60 exhibition areas, nearly 500 participating brands, and over 3,000 exhibits. It provides a comprehensive presentation of responses from creative cities and outstanding enterprises, brands, institutions, organizations, independent designers, and media both domestically and internationally, covering a total area of more than 20,000 square meters.

Notably, 70% are emerging brands, highlighting design’s role in fostering new industries. In terms of narrative structure, the first to third floors are organized around the keywords “New Quality Attitude,” “New Quality Action,” and “New Quality Community,” respectively. As an extension of the main exhibition, a design market, outdoor playground, and art installations have been set up for the general public, effectively conveying Shanghai’s attitude and advocacy of integrating design into everyday life throughout the city.  In particular innovative products such as autonomous vehicles and “flying taxi” models will make their debut, showcasing a perfect fusion of design and technology. The main exhibition also features independent booths from renowned media outlets like Dezeen, ELLEMEN, and WWD, presenting multiple highlights through works of over a hundred cutting-edge designers from professional media perspectives in architectural and fashion design. In terms of sustainable design, Shanghai Design Week’s special exhibition on sustainable design brings together 16 sustainable design brands, transforming concepts into concrete actions. It is dedicated to implementing sustainable methods in practical applications, aiming to benefit both ecological co-construction and global coexistence.

The conference will also unveil the winners of the “2024 Shanghai Design 100+” global competition. The shortlisted products are expected to generate sales of 570 billion yuan over their lifecycle, demonstrating design’s substantial contribution to economic growth. Additionally, the conference will release the “Shanghai Declaration of Design Capital,” establishing a design discourse system with Shanghai characteristics and global influence.

Zhang Ying,  Chairman of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, noted that Shanghai’s culture and innovation industry generated total revenue of 2.34 trillion yuan in 2023, a 7% year-on-year growth. WDCC 2024 will further propel Shanghai towards becoming a global design capital, promoting consumption upgrades and industrial innovation.

By hosting WDCC 2024, Shanghai aims to further integrate global creative design resources and deepen the integration of the design industry with urban development. The conference is not just a design extravaganza but a catalyst for industrial innovation, injecting new vitality into the high-quality economic development of Shanghai and China as a whole.