Design Evolution and Innovation for Tropical Liveable Cities: Towards A Circular Economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.17.1.2018.3642Keywords:
Design-led innovation, Circular Economy, human-centred design, Service Design Thinking, tropical citiesAbstract
Design has become an important driver of economic innovation and better living globally. This paper looks at the evolution of design within the innovation space and how it is applied in tropical Singapore, a global financial center, and Townsville, a regional city in Australia’s tropical northeast. The general question of whether regional Australian cities can adopt and adapt large scale innovative practices is examined in the context of driving change in the Circular Economy. The role of design has evolved from the popular understanding of creating products, driving consumption and being a decorative discipline; to driving social, public and economic change. Cities like Singapore have been on the policy forefront to push design-led innovation to facilitate start-ups, spark economic development, re-imagine its future, and on a human scale, harmonize with its tropical setting. Design Thinking and Service Design Thinking as strategies for innovation play a crucial part in driving a paradigm shift in economic thinking away from unsustainable levels of consumerism and towards a Circular Economy. The future challenge for designers working toward a Circular Economy will require new ways of approaching services, processes and products that are good for business and sustainable development. Through higher education, Townsville design students took innovative steps to improve the quality of life for the elderly on a small scale, which illustrates a capacity for design-led innovation on a regional level that reflects large scale Service Design in Singapore.
References
Anbumozhi, V. (2017). Asian Countries Can Be Global Leaders in Developing Circular Economies. ERIA. Retrieved from http://www.eria.org/opinion/FY2017/07/asian-countries-can-be-global-leaders-in-developing-circular-economies.html
Atkisson, V. (2009). 10 Fastest Growing Design Jobs. ARTBistro. Retrieved from http://artbistro.monster.com/careers/articles/8794-10-fastest-growing-design-jobs
Australian Government. (2017a). Job Outlook- Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators. Retrieved from http://joboutlook.gov.au/occupation.aspx?code=2324
Australian Government. (2017b). Job Outlook- Interior Designer. Retrieved from http://joboutlook.gov.au/occupation.aspx?code=2325
Benton, D., & Hazell, J. (2015). The circular economy in Japan. Retrieved from https://www.the-ies.org/analysis/circular-economy-japan
Braw, E. (2014). Five countries moving ahead of the pack on circular economy legislation. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/oct/29/countries-eu-circular-economy-legislation-denmark-sweden-scotland
Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. New York: HarperCollins.
Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2010). Design Thinking for Social Innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter), 31-35.
Burkett, I. (2012). What is Social Design? Retrieved from https://secure.csi.edu.au/site/Home/Blog.aspx?defaultblog=https://blog.csi.edu.au/2012/01/what-is-social-design/
Cheam, J. (2015). The rise of the circular economy in Asia. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/rise-circular-economy-asia/
Chin, C. (2016). How is Design-Thinking reshaping Singapore? GovInsider. Retrieved from https://govinsider.asia/innovation/how-is-design-thinking-reshaping-singapore/
Daniel, R. (2013). Creativity and creative industries in Cairns: views from the field. Etropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics, 12(2), 58-69.
Design Council. (2011). Design for Innovation: Facts, figures and practical plans for growth. Retrieved from http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/publications/Design-for-Innovation/
DesignSingapore Council. (2016). The Path To...Better Life by Design. Retrieved from https://www.designsingapore.org/what-we-do/resources/the-path-to-better-life-by-design
DIA. (2017). Design Disciplines. Retrieved from https://www.design.org.au/designindustry/design-disciplines
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, SUN, & McKinsey Center for Business and Environment. (2015). Towards the Circular Economy, Economic and Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition. Retrieved from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/TCE_Ellen-MacArthur-Foundation_9-Dec-2015.pdf
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2017). The new plastics economy–catalysing action. Retrieved from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/New-Plastics-Economy_Catalysing-Action_13-1-17.pdf
Fleischmann, K. (2013). Social entrepreneurs and social designers: Change makers with a new mindset? International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(16), 9-17.
Fleischmann, K., Visini, G., & Daniel, R. (2012). We want to add to their lives, not take away…. In P. Rodgers (Ed.), Articulating Design Thinking (pp. 107-133). Faringdon: Libri.
Fleischmann, K., Daniel, R., & Welters, R. (2017). Developing a regional economy through creative industries: Innovation capacity in a regional Australian city. Creative Industries Journal. doi:10.1080/17510694.2017.1282305
Gin, B. S. (2017). Singapore's long game in innovation. The Straits Times - Economic Affairs. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/singapores-long-game-in-innovation
Green Industries SA. (2017). Benefits of a Circular Economy in South Australia Summary. Retrieved from http://www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au/_literature_172176/Benefits_of_a_Circular_Economy_in_South_Australia_-_summary_(2017)
Gulari, M. N., Melioranski, R.-H., Er, O., & Fremantle, C. (2017). The future of design support: What Can We Learn From Design Support Experience in the UK, Estonia and Turkey? Paper presented at the Design for Next, 12th EAD Conference, Sapienza University of Rome.
Irwin, T. (2015). Transition Design: A Proposal for a New Area of Design Practice, Study, and Research. The Journal of the Design Studies Forum, 7(2), 229-246. doi:10.1080/17547075.2015.1051829
James, G. (2015). How Digital Technology Will Change Interior Design. LinkedIn. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-digital-technology-change-interior-design-gary-james
James Cook University. (2014). State of the Tropics. Retrieved from https://www.jcu.edu.au/state-of-the-tropics/publications/2014
Jia, J. C. Y., & Aziz, N. (2016). Pulau Semakau. National Library Board Singapore, Singapore Government. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1008_2010-03-22.html
Kane, G. (2016). Designing a product-service for repair & maintenance of medical imaging equipment in Africa. Delft University of Technology. Retrieved from https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:168b31c2-47a6-4c29.../download
Looijse, K. (2017). Headphones as a service. Repository Delft University of Technology. Retrieved from https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3A591c9491-fdbc-40e3-9b99-a69ff488682c?collection=education
Marchese, F. (2017). How Sicilian oranges are being made into clothes. BBC Business. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40946159
Prendeville, S., & Bocken, N. (2017). Sustainable Business Models through Service Design. Procedia Manufacturing, 8, 292-299.
Ramirez, M., Jr. (2011). Designing with a social conscience: An emerging area in industrial design education and practice. Paper presented at the International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED11. , Technical University of Denmark. http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:10520/SOURCE01
Rolston, M. (2014). The next era of designers will use data as their medium. WIRED. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2014/11/rise-of-data-artists
Seek Learning. (2015). Industries that are hiring in 2015. Retrieved from https://www.seeklearning.com.au/study-and-career-advice/seek-job-trends/industries-that-are-hiring-in-2015
Stickdorn, M. & Schneider, J. (2011). This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases. BIS Publisher, The Netherlands.
Storvang, P., Jensen, S., Christensen, P.R. & Storgaard, M. (2013). 'Facilitating Innovation through Design in a Danish context - a framework for design capacity'. Paper presented to 2nd Cambridge Academic Design Management Conference, University of Cambridge, 4 – 5 September.
The Holland Innovation Network. (2017). Singapore - Towards Resource Recovery in a Circular Economy. Retrieved from https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/latest/news/2017/04/21/singapore---towards-resource-recovery-in-a-circular-economy
Toh, M. (2017). Why Design Thinking Matters More in Business Than Ever. FORTUNE. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/03/14/singapore-design-week-business/
Tulshyan, R. (2015). Singapore’s forced housing integration fueled its economic success. Retrieved from https://qz.com/436056/singapores-forced-housing-integration-fueled-its-economic-success/
UNESCO Creative Cities Network. (2015). Singapore. Retrieved from http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/singapore
Veryday. (2016). Looking beyond normality. Retrieved from http://veryday.com/case/singapore-designsingapore-council/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who submit articles to this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors are responsible for ensuring that any material that has influenced the research or writing has been properly cited and credited both in the text and in the Reference List (Bibliography). Contributors are responsible for gaining copyright clearance on figures, photographs or lengthy quotes used in their manuscript that have been published elsewhere.
2. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, or publish it in a book), with proper acknowledgement of the work's initial publication in this journal.
4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access or The Open Access Citation Advantage). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (i.e., a copy of a work which has been published in eTropic, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the eTropic publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.
5. Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.