In 2012, Brand South Africa tasked The City with establishing trade, investment and tourism links with Brazil. Brand South Africa wished to further engage with Brazil particularly in light of South Africa’s inclusion in the BRICS economic grouping and South Africa’s successes in hosting the World Cup in 2010. For The City, the two countries’ comparable histories were also a source of interest: both experienced colonialism and slavery, and the subsequent legacies of economic, social and spatial inequalities.
The City organised meetings, tours and seminars in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and Porto Alegre and invited South African specialists to meet with Brazilian city administrators, policy makers, journalists, academics, urban planners, architects, and designers on topics of inclusive democracy, the economy, culture, and urbanism. Ultimately, this led to the establishment of Designing Brazil, and a greater discussion between the two BRICS nations.
Brazil remains a strategic business partner of South Africa’s, and both are rapidly developing nations. There will be ongoing lessons to be learned as their respective cities expand, in terms of how design can make a difference to the evolving urban experience.