Global conference highlighting power of design opens in Shanghai

The World Design Cities Conference (WDCC) 2024, organized by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, opened in east China's Shanghai Municipality on Friday.

Under the theme of "Design Reframing Growth" this year, the event, scheduled to last till Monday, aims to build a platform for global design collaboration and exchange. It seeks to explore a design-driven approach for new quality productive development and promote the integration of design into all aspects of urban and daily life.

At the opening ceremony, Shen Haixiong, president of China Media Group, highlighted Shanghai's pivotal role in advancing Chinese modernization.

He emphasized the city's commitment to embedding design concepts into urban development, enhancing the design industry's empowering role, and merging global perspectives with local characteristics, showcasing the allure of a modern socialist international metropolis.

Gong Zheng, mayor of Shanghai, said Shanghai will attach great importance to the comprehensive value and diverse functions of design, fully leveraging its overall advantages and accelerating the construction of a world-class design city.

"We aim to cultivate and develop new quality productive forces, using design to empower industrial innovation, and respond to cutting-edge technologies and industrial needs by strengthening design innovation and system integration in key areas," said Gong.

He also noted that Shanghai will focus on building a people-oriented city, promoting the deep integration of design into urban renewal, public services, cultural development and other aspects, and fostering high-level openness through design as a means of global communication.

The opening ceremony also witnessed a series of announcements, including the World Design Cities Shanghai Manifesto 2024, which calls on the world to embrace future trends and develop design driven by new quality productive forces to better address the challenges of human development, as well as several awards.

This is the third consecutive year that Shanghai has hosted the conference, which has brought together nearly 1,000 representatives from international design industry organizations, design schools and leading enterprises, as well as renowned scholars and designers at home and abroad. They will share design concepts, cutting-edge technologies and market trends in different fields through nearly 50 activities, including forums, roundtable dialogues, exhibitions and design carnivals, aiming at advancing global design innovation.