Dubai emerges out as the first city in the Middle East to be recognized by UNESCO for its creativity in design.
Dubai has made it to yet another list affirming global recognition. Established in 2004, UCCN (UNESCO Creative Cities Network), an initiative by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization aims to recognize, acknowledge and applaud different cities in the world that maneuver to infuse innovative creativity within their social, cultural, economic and educational endeavors.
Since its formation in 2004, the network has grown to include a total of 180 members representing 72 different countries. It engulfs a number of different creative fields like design, art and craft, literature, theatre and media arts etc within its scope. All the member cities have been making efforts towards a shared objective of actively conceiving, implementing and executing creativity at the apex of their development plans and projects.
Dubai proudly shares a spot in the list along with some very old and major cities like Montreal and Beijing. Several major development projects in the Emirate have contributed to this achievement. The Dubai metro and tram design alongside that of Jumeirah Corniche and Water canal have been cited to be conceived as iconic city developments. Apart from these iconic designs, projects like the Bridge of Tolerance on Dubai Canal and the recently formulated infinity bridge- a 42 meter high arched framework named as Shindagha Bridge have also been noticed as some breakthrough attempts made by the city in lieu of their commitment towards creativity.
Mr. Dawood Abdul Rehman Al Hajiri- the Director General of Dubai Municipality at one of the recent events mentioned how Dubai was under UNESCO’s scrutiny for 4 years and this place in the list is a hard-earned one. The [UCCN] application has a lot of standards that we have to go with and Dubai has already passed all the requirements.” said Al Hajiri in furtherance.
The authorities as a roll-out to this accomplishment have announced the formation of a dedicated design and innovation based University at the Dubai Design District. DIDI- Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation will operate as a not-for-profit entity and will offer students design education in the form of a 4 year program named ‘Bachelor of Design Degree (BDes)’. Students enrolling under the said program will be given full independence to design their own degree by choosing cross-disciplinary subjects such as an amalgamation of two or more concentrations from disciplines like product design, strategic design management, multimedia and fashion.
Thus, these continuous endeavors are expected to bear fruit and take Dubai miles ahead in the global picture.
