The World Design Capital, a city project dedicated to promoting the design profession around the world, showcases a new capital every two years. The initiative recognizes cities for their constructive use of design to drive social, cultural, and environmental change and improve the overall quality of life. This week, San Diego and Tijuana have been named the World Design Capital of 2024, due to their human-centric design strategies and their cross-border collaboration. In previous editions, the World Design Organization had selected Valencia and Mexico City as design capitals of the world.
Minutes apart, San Diego and Tijuana are two coastal cities in the United States and Mexico, respectively. With over 150,000 commuters and vehicles crossing this border each day, the sister cities are interconnected through mountains to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West. Despite this border, the two cities are part of a single ecosystem, a transit hub with a myriad of opportunities for design interventions, innovations, and activations.
Located in an arid landscape, the cities are at the forefront of addressing major shifts in definitions that the world is currently going through, from climate crisis to geopolitics. Although they are two distinct urban entities, they have a long history of sharing resources, cultural values, and even challenges. Through this appointment, they seek to redefine border community narratives through urban policies of redevelopment and redistribution; as well as utilize design in creating new infrastructures and platforms in line with these values, ultimately activating networks of change in all global cities.
Throughout the year 2023, both cities have many events lined up to prepare for becoming the official design capital in 2024. This year-long series of public events, conferences, policy summits, and workshops will be the catalyst for the real exchange of ideas. In the upcoming months, many leaders in their respective practices will be hosting community-led workshops and educational sessions that encourage engagement in this transborder mission. The cities are planning to begin their 2024 design reign with a signing ceremony and international street festival to celebrate the region while also advancing the project’s core work.
An open call for this San Diego Tijuana World Design Capital event has just been launched on the World Design Organization's website.
