A promotional meeting for building Shanghai into a world-class Design City characterized by Shanghai style was held on February 17, 2022. Gong Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, pressed the start button, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the development of a world-class Design City. Vice Mayor Zhang Wei delivered a speech.
At the meeting, Chen Jie, President of Tongji University, along with other experts, announced the initiative to build a world-class Design City. "Tongji University will be committed to 'artificial intelligence' + 'design creativity', to create a first-class cross-disciplinary cluster of 'creative design and intelligent manufacturing', to do new designs in the intelligent era, and to make greater contributions to the development of Shanghai's Design City," said Chen Jie.
President Chen Jie (fourth left) announcing the initiative to build a world class " Design City"
along with other experts
Academician Chen Jie
On the afternoon of the same day, the organizers of the Shanghai Design Week released a 10-year strategic planning video and signed a strategic partnership with Tongji University at the "Shanghai Design City" Summit. Lou Yongqi, Vice President of Tongji University, signed the agreement on behalf of the University.
Shanghai joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2010 and has promoted the development of a Design City since. Over the past 12 years, Tongji Design, as a pioneer of design education both in Shanghai and in China, has taken the initiative to bring into full play of its disciplinary resources. Tongji Design has always been there in the development of Shanghai's Design City as well as the city, and has left distinctive Tongji marks on Shanghai’s journey towards a world-class Design City.
The Shanghai Expo 2010 provided a good opportunity for Tongji University to present its traditional design strengths in architectural design, urban design, landscape design and engineering design. In 2009, Tongji University established the College of Design and Innovation based on the former Department of Art and Design in response to the challenges of the post-urbanization era. In 2010, the University, in cooperation with Aalto University, Finland, established the Sino-Finnish Center, an international interdisciplinary innovation platform. In 2015, the College won the Program for Promoting Internationalization of Universities supported by the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. In 2016, the Shanghai International Design Innovation Institute of Tongji University initiated by both sides was approved for establishment; in the same year, the Shanghai Plan of Developing Peak Discipline of Design IV led by Tongji University was launched, with support from other universities in Shanghai, including Donghua University and East China University of Science and Technology, to improve the overall level of Shanghai's design disciplines. In 2017, it was selected as a "double first-class" development discipline. In recent years, Tongji University has continued to climb in the QS World University Rankings by Subject in Art and Design, ranking 13th in the world in 2021, and first in Asia for four consecutive years. Recently, Design of Tongji University was selected as the second round "Double First-Class" development discipline in the list of the second round of "Double First-Class" Development Universities supported by MOE.
We at Tongji have used design to help Shanghai with its urban and community renewal, industrial transformation and upgrading, quality improvement in life, and innovation and entrepreneurship. Since 2013, Tongji University has broken its campus walls and established innovation labs in the community with support from the community and enterprises. Since 2015, Tongji University and Siping Neighborhood in Yangpu District have jointly organized many sessions of "Siping Space Creation Action". A number of projects such as Yangpu Riverside and Suzhou River renovation have become design benchmarks of "The City for the People". In recent years, experts in planning, design and architecture from Tongji University have served as "community planners" in more than 10 districts in Shanghai, rejuvenating old neighborhoods with youthful vitality. As a typical case of Tongji University's knowledge spillover to promote local economic development, the "Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle" has achieved an output value of nearly 50 billion in 2020, and is making steady progress towards an output value of 100 billion.
The continuous improvement of academic strength has provided strong intellectual support for Shanghai to become a world-class Design City. In November 2020, among the ten major events released for the tenth anniversary of Shanghai as the Design City, four major events were closely related to Tongji University.
Not long ago, Tongji University announced its new chapter of closer integration and coordinated development of design and related disciplines, marking a new stage, new mission and new action. Design is integrated with over ten first-level disciplines of mechanical engineering, computer science and technology, business administration, mechanics, electrical engineering, information and communication engineering, control science engineering, aerospace science and technology, public management, and intelligent science and technology. Innovation Design and Intelligent Manufacturing Discipline Cluster to respond to the country's major development strategy. Amid the industrial trend of "digitization, networking and intelligence", it is committed to "design-driven innovation" while focusing on serving the country's economy with high quality. The major demand for development and digital transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry has added new momentum to Shanghai's development of a world-class Design City.
https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1003/80039.htm
