The reforming power of design thinking takes root in the city government
In 2012, Taipei City became the first government entity in Taiwan to lay on a series of courses in design thinking for departmental heads, laying a foundation of design thinking among city administrators, and also doing the groundwork for Taipei’s bid to host World Design Capital, and enabling design thinking to gradually take root within the city government. Over the past two years, the Taipei City Government has also encouraged its various departments to invite designers and professionals from different fields, as well as citizens at large, to join in the collective, collaborative process of embedding design into city governance.
To date, more than 645 interdisciplinary design workshops and project office brainstorming sessions have been held, with the participation of more than 800 designers and professionals from different fields. Forty-five bottom-up “Stir Design” projects and 26 top-down “Public Policy by Design” (PPD) projects have been initiated, broadening the role of design in public affairs and achieving genuine urban innovation through the involvement of designers.