Izmir, The Harbour of Design

The city of Izmir implements programs and policies to empower its cultural creative industries, embed participatory methods in governance, and strengthen its international collaborations with Mediterranean cities since 2009. As a part of this vision, to cultivate the design scene of the city the Design Forum was organized by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in 2011. One of the outcomes of this forum was the forty kilometers long coastal regeneration project, the IzmirSea Project which aimed to improve the quality of public spaces and everyday life with good design.  Mediterranean Academy, a department of the metropolitan municipality that correlates projects on culture and arts, design, ecology, and history; established in 2012. Good Design Izmir, the annual design event started in 2016 to bring design academics, students, professionals, and citizens together. Izmir had candidacy for the World Design Capital in 2017, and in 2018 the city hosted the World Design Talks event.

Izmir hopes to gather global design talents as a virtual and physical destination to inspire and disseminate design ideas for common good on these key themes: Climate, resilience, migration, gastronomy, slow fashion, and heritage.

This website aims to show chronologically the contributions of different stakeholders to the design environment in İzmir since 2009 and to introduce the city’s designers and design scene..●