BENGALURU: The IT capital of the country could soon have another feather added to its cap. The city has been shortlisted by the World Design Organisation for the World Design capital - 2022 award. Bengaluru is the first Indian city to be nominated for such an award. The state government nominated Bengaluru quoting the success of three citizen-based initiatives in making the city more liveable. It quoted
the works done by Ugly Indians, Daily Dump and Art in Transit.
The proposal was led by Association of Designers in India - Bengaluru Chapter, which comprises of 10 designers. Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, IT- BT, tweeted: “Proud of this development - #Bengaluru shortlisted as World Design Capital. This gives a major fillip to efforts by various organisations and individuals in the field of #Design. Congrats all who worked to make this happen!”
Geeta Narayanan, Founder Director of Shrishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, which is one of the members of the association, said, the city is not projected as a perfect city but as a protopolis- a city where proto type design-led interventions will improve the quality of life.
The city is projected as a metropolis with examples of citizen-based initiatives in various streams such as transportation, solid waste management and traffic.The awards will be announced in Hyderabad in October and work on making the city better under this recognition will start from 2020 and continue till 2025.
A government official said: “Many projects under many names have been undertaken to improve Bengaluru. This will be one more initiative to push government agencies to strive more in improving the city. Also, since international recognition will be drawn, it will make people more conscious and aware towards improving Bengaluru.”