Planning is well under way for the many festivals, conferences and neighborhood events San Diego and Tijuana will stage next year when the two cities serve as a global focal point for architecture and design ideas.
San Diego and Tijuana beat out Moscow to be designated World Design Capital during 2024, following in the footsteps of Seoul, Helsinki, Mexico City, Taipei, Cape Town and Valencia, Spain.
The goal of the event is attracting tourists and media coverage to boost the binational region’s reputation in innovative design of buildings, communities and other environments.
Local organizers on both sides of the border are scheduling public forums at museums and other venues during January, a street festival in May, a design showcase in September and a November finale with multiple major events.
Those include a city networking session in Tijuana featuring mayors from around the world, a policy conference on global design practices in San Diego and a convocation ceremony summarizing the highlights of the year at UC San Diego’s Salk Institute.
There will also be dozens — maybe hundreds — of smaller neighborhood events focused on design strategies, solving societal problems and sharing ideas with other parts of the world to improve people’s lives.
Local nonprofits and other groups recently submitted nearly 500 ideas for neighborhood events in response to a request for proposals from World Design Capital organizers.
“It shows the engagement and excitement that is out there,” said Carlos de la Mora, an architect serving as the event’s chief executive.
The chosen events, which will split $550,000 in secured sponsorship money, will all be open to the public and begin in March. They will be selected partly based on how well their proposals address one of six focus areas organizers have chosen: arts and culture, health and wellness, climate and sustainability, planning and place-making, youth and education, and science and technology.
Organizers say they’re close to selecting a team of designers and artists to create a mobile pavilion that will be present at nearly all local World Design events as a recognizable signature feature .
That nonprofit includes five separate organizations: the city of San Diego, the city of Tijuana, UCSD, the Burnham Center for Community Advancement and Design Forward Alliance.
Organizers last spring estimated the series of events would cost $8 million to $10 million total. They haven’t given an update on how much they have raised beyond the city’s $3 million contribution.
Councilmember Raul Campillo said the city’s contribution should be looked at as an investment and contended it will more than pay for itself in tourism dollars and an enhanced image.
Valencia, which was the World Design Capital last year, hosted 300 activities, had 150,000 visitors and experienced a $35 million economic impact, he said.
“This designation is not fluff,” Campillo said during a Dec. 6 meeting of the council’s economic development committee. “It’s part of how we can solve our biggest problems together. We can build our global brand as a multinational center of design, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation.”
The street festival will be held May 1 through May 5 in Tijuana. It will include art installations and exhibitions that will invite spectators to explore the creative process and imagine a possible future of the Tijuana/San Diego region.
The design showcase will be Sept. 18 through 25 at Balboa Park’s Mingei International Museum and some other venues. Five separate locations will showcase community-driven design with high impact and how to celebrate diversity in design.
On neighborhood events, Campillo said he doesn’t want the lion’s share to take place in Balboa Park, as many cultural events typically do. He said the Convoy District, a Black arts district in southeastern San Diego and other lesser-known cultural areas should be prioritized for events.
Councilmember Kent Lee said he’s impressed with the recent progress.
“It’s nice to see how it’s beginning to come together,” he said.
De la Mora said outreach and promotion have also been going well.
“Six months ago very few people knew about World Design Capital, and I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” he said.
Future plans include a new website coming in January and promotional banners in certain neighborhoods. The existing website is wdc2024.org.
