Abstract
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.
Highlights
Design has become an important driver of economic innovation and better living globally
This paper examines how tropical cities like Singapore can inspire the cultivation and incorporation of design-led innovation in tropical regional Australia using Townsville, Queensland as a focal point
The area of design spans a wide range of sub-disciplines, which the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) classifies as: Industrial design, Interior architecture design, Interior decoration, Graphic design/Visual communication, Textile design, Exhibition design, Fashion design, Design management, Jewellery Design, Furniture design, Digital media design, and other new design specialisations emerging through technological advancements (DIA, 2017)
Summary
The popular conception of designers imagines them as creating products and visual aesthetics (Brown & Wyatt, 2010; Ramirez, 2011). The island is home to the city-state’s chemical and energy industry where one refinery’s waste is used as another refinery’s feedstock, designed according to maximising the value chain of production These circular economy initiatives require a re-thinking and re-design of the value chain and a collaborative effort to make it happen, whether it is required by an industrial process or in a social program. In the Australian context, Singapore provides a good example of how central government decision-making and policy can drive design-led innovation toward employing Circular Economy practices. A survey of of approximately a quarter of creative industries in Townsville (Fleischmann, Daniel & Welters, 2017) found that creative businesses in Townsville do offer design-led innovation services, there is only a low market demand for the kind of design innovation that would stimulate Circular Economy practices. The app was designed to overcome the mobility limitations of many housebound elderly people (Figure 2)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: eTropic: electronic journal of studies in the Tropics
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
