Buenos Aires — The First City of Design

Abstract

On August 24^th 2005, Buenos Aires was entered as the first city in the UNESCO City of Design network. Buenos Aires is a cosmopolitan city which developed through different waves of immigration from different cultures. With more than 13 million inhabitants in the greater area, Buenos Aires is the third largest metropolis in Latin America. The city’s economy has an industrial history, but is nowadays heavily based on services. In this context the design industry has also become more and more important. The creative industry’s impact on added value and employment has been really significant in recent years, contri-buting in 2009 to an increase of 8% in the GDP, and a 9.7% increase in the level of employment in the city.