Design activates six values for cities: A report of the “design for county” programme

Abstract

A new round of worldwide science and technology development and industrial change is forming a historic intersection with the economic development mode in China, meanwhile, the structure of global industry is being reshaped. As one of the core approach to China innovation development, design, needs to carry out advanced design innovation strategy, which could realise the co-creation of research institutions, design consultancies and companies. However, the unbalance regional development of creative industries is still a prominent problem. The “Design for County” project (DFC) is in order to promote the integration of the front, middle and the back end of the design innovation. The project is connecting design talents and resources in Shanghai with traditional industries in second and third class cities, which could enhance traditional enterprises’ innovation capability, activate the vitality of local market, and accelerate regional economic transformation and upgrading. Through the practice of DFC, researchers concluded six values that the project conducts for cities, including regional resources connection, industrial value promotion, creative knowledge spread, entrepreneurship opportunity, intellectual property mining and platform value.