Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 9 September 2015 | Page 58

DESIGN CAPITAL

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The 460-plus recognised projects also benefitted
thanks to crowdfunding opportunities instigated
by WDC2014 initiatives. Smaller projects such
as the Gugulethu Food Festival, the Cover the
Homeless with Love this Winter Campaign and
the 365 Postcards for Ants project, which received
an investment of R 139 250, the highest amount
awarded through a crowdfunding collaboration
between WDC2014 and Thundafund, which resulted
in an investment of R 1.2 million on 37 projects,
leading to an indirect R 2.2 million impact on new
business sales.

alone and continues to bring together local, national
and international visitors and local designers. Mayor
Patricia de Lille expressed a wish that WDC2014
see design touching each of the 111 metropolitan
areas. The ward projects, described in the report
as ground breaking, involved 36 workshops in 81
wards, which leveraged more than R 15 million
in ward allocation spending. Of the 2500 people
who took part, 1600 were residents and 475 were
professional designers, and the expenditure also
resulted in an increase of R 41 million in household
income.

Small businesses and projects profited in several
other ways too. International promotion of Cape
Town meant local companies benefitted from global
promotion. The Dutch Government spent R 10.5 million
on the #cocreateSA project and a new association was
also created between Helsinki’s Aalto University and
Cape Town University of Technology.

It is clear Cape Town’s design story is not finished,
but simply on pause. Maintenance [