Singapore’s National Design Centre and Design 2025: : Building Singapore as a Design-Driven Nation

Singapore, a bustling modern and cosmopolitan city-state. The field of design has always played an important role in its development. Singapore is a densely populated city with about 700 square kilometers and a population of 5.5 million, making it one of the developed countries in Asia and an important international financial center in the world. Singapore is designed with intelligent solutions to meet the needs of citizens in housing, healthcare, education and transportation. The design sector is a major driver of Singapore’s creative economy and contributes approximately S$2.13 million to Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) annually. The industry is home to around 5,500 dynamic design firms employing 29,000 people. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in 2018, “Design is a core element of ournation-building. Singapore is a nationby design. Nothing we have today isnatural or happened by itself.”

In 1961, the Singapore Economic Development Board was established and an industrial research department was set up. In order to further lead the development of the design field, Singapore’s cultural departments have actively responded to national policies and launched a series of phased development strategies, such as the “Create Singapore” plan in 1998 and the “Design Singapore” plan in 2002. In 2003, Singapore’s Ministry of Culture established the now-famous Design Singapore Council, which is responsible for major design-related projects and events, including Singapore Design Week (SDW). “Singapore Design Week fosters collaboration among stakeholders and promotes the use of cross-cutting approaches that are at the heart of Singapore’s design vision, which is based on social inclusion, environmental sustainability and well-being. TThe Design Committee is located at the Singapore National Design Centre, which was led by Singaporean architect SooK Chan, founder of SCDA Architects. The centre serves as a model showcase for Singaporeans to encourage innovation and design, aiming to promote Singapore’s design culture. It features facilities such as lecture halls and public exhibition areas.

The goal of the 2008 Singapore Design Plan is to build Singapore into the world’s most innovative Asian country, use design to improve the country’s comprehensive capabilities, improve people’s quality of life, and enhance the country’s competitiveness. In 2015, Singapore launched the Design 2025 master plan, and in the same year, Singapore was designated as a UNESCO Capital of Creative Design. The City of Design Office is located within the Singapore Design Council and is responsible for coordinating and implementing the mission that contributes to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and as a member of UCCN, Singapore has a platform to promote its design development. To learn more about Singapore’s efforts as a City of Design, read its UCCN Member Monitoring Report 2015-2019.

The Design 2025 master plan outlines how Singapore will use design to become an innovation-driven economy by 2025 and make the city even more lovely. On the basis of the previous design master plan “Design 2025”, the grand strategic goals include the key work of promoting the popularization of design innovation awareness, talent training, brand promotion, and international exchanges in the future.

As a Creative City of Design, Singapore aims to:

• Expanding the “Design Thinking and Innovation Academy” training curriculum with a focus on design as a driver of sustainable growth, productivity and urban prosperity;
• Addressing the special needs of the elderly population through the Public Service Transformation program to improve urban services and thereby improving the quality of life of urban older people;
• Encourage the use of cross-disciplinary approaches by holding seminars on “Cross-Creative Cooperation of National Design Centers”, and integrate folk art and handicraft design and food culture;
• Use the exhibition as a platform for dialogue to showcase best practices and projects from the Creative Cities of Design, while strengthening the international network of urban planners and designers;
• Promote cross-cutting projects that highlight the contribution of design to sustainable urban development around the world.

Source: Chongqing New Design – Issue No.1
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