Leveraging design as capital in soft power

SINGAPORE has been bestowed the accolade of Creative City of Design by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), joining the Creative Cities Network (UCCN) which include the likes of Beijing, Berlin, Bilbao, Buenos Aires, Helsinki, Kobe, Montreal, Nagoya, Seoul, Shanghai and Turin.

The UCCN set up in 2004 aims "to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor in sustainable urban development".

The application and selection processes are stringent, a testament to the Unesco brand, such that in 11 years since its inception, only 116 member cities have made it to this list, across the seven creative fields - Craft and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.