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Sunday, June 28, 2009

A Brief Visit to the City of Design in Shenzhen

































































I had to go up to Shenzhen for a meeting last Friday afternoon so I decided to use the morning to visit this place called the "City of Design" in the Futian District. The City of Design is basically a 1.5 hectare estate that provides office space for companies in the creative industry. The walk to the place was about 15 minutes from the subway station, but under the wet and humid weather, it wasn't the most comfortable walk. When I got there, the place felt rather peaceful and suburb-like compared to the usual busy streets of Shenzhen. Since I didn't make extensive planning before the trip there, I wasn't expecting to see much.

There wasn't really much to see there other than a small innovation gallery, which is nothing compare to the design gallery at the Hong Kong Convention Center. Outside the gallery, there is a stage with a sign that reads: "Design creates brand", and "Innovation wins value". These are not the most inspirational quotes that I've seen, but at least it shows that China sees the value in design.

I later did some googling on the web and found out that there are now over 200 registered industrial design firms in Shenzhen alone: http://www.sznews.com/zhuanti/content/2008-06/18/content_3050129.htm