Connect
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Design for Public Service Platform
1. Digital platform of public service Public service based on digital platform is emerging as the most important factor in the competitiveness of a nation and a city. In 2020, Korea ranked 8th in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking announced by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland, which was a 2-step rise from 10th position in 2019, to show its potential in the digital field. Also, in the government index announced by OECD, Korea is exhibiting strength and performance in digital-based public service by achieving 1st place in digital by design government, 2nd place in government as a platform, 3rd place in data-driven government, 1st place in open by default government, 4th place in user driven government and 12th place in proactiveness of government. Seoul is also making efforts to drive innovation in public service based on excellent digital infrastructure, and moreover, there is a demand to resolve problems in a way that can be felt by our citizens and achieve transformation in terms of creating sustainable and real values. -
Asking about the past, present, and future of cities. [2023 Seoul Design International Forum, Humanising Cities:Human•Design•City] Inside the lively scene!
Hello! I am Miyeon Kim, a supporter of the 2023 Seoul Design International Forum. Do you know about Seoul Design (www.sdif.org) and the Seoul Design International Forum? Seoul Design is a vision for Seoul that responds to the challenges facing the community due to various global issues, enhances the competitiveness of the city, and allows everyone to live a happy life. Seoul Design also aims to: - Develop creative and sustainable design solutions to solve the various problems that people face in their daily lives, creating a safe, convenient, and sustainable urban environment. - Lead the world's cities through design that reflects innovative technologies and the city's unique characteristics. - Increase the number of distinctive design contents in everyday life, satisfying the emotions of citizens and providing impressive experiences to drive the city's attractiveness. - Be a design community in which many people, including experts, industry, and citizens, participate and discuss together. Last year, the 2022 Seoul Design International Forum was held under the theme of "How Design Enrichs the Future." This year, it was held under the theme of "Humanising Cities:Human•Design•City" Under the vision of a human-centered city, we looked back on how Seoul was illuminated and shared our opinions to increase the competitiveness of the city. The Seoul Design International Forum, which is held every year based on the Seoul design I introduced earlier! It was held face-to-face for the first time in four years since COVID-19, with expert speakers from all over the world, and we vividly captured the scene! -
Village for the developmentally disabled
What factors cause family members with children with developmental disabilities to face discomfort in the city and surrounding areas? In order to help spread universal awareness, we must observe and take a deep interest in every sector of society. Taking the case of the family of a 20-year-old who lost vision in one eye due to ankylosing cerebral palsy and has an autistic disorder. Despite the fact that they face many difficulties, their opinions are not passed to the community smoothly, due to their difficulties in communication. Intellectual disability is a blind spot even in the disability-related community when communication is difficult and needs are varied. Children with developmental disabilities spend their childhood in the community and school age in institutions or schools, but after reaching adulthood, they have nowhere to go. Most of them stay at home or move to care facilities. Recently, as the level of needs of people with developmental disabilities increases, the proportion of people who want to stay together in the community is increasing. However, the reality is that there is no place to go for education and no facilities.
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Exploring the concept of social problem-solving design and its value, and evolutionary direction
Societies around the world are increasingly facing more diversified and complicated problems (e.g.: social structure and policy, climate change, chronic infectious diseases, inequality, etc.). And recently, in addressing these social problems by developing an actionable solution through collaboration with stakeholders, “social innovation” is emerging as a useful concept, and the use of human-centered participatory design approach is emphasized as a practical methodology to execute this concept. Unlike the conventional supplier-centered innovation that involves a top-down approach, these concepts focus on a bottom-up approach that emphasizes social connectedness, and the role of design as an elaborate problem-solving tool is critical in implementing these concepts. -
Special Interview: David Berman
Let me answer with a story. In the summer of 2008, I had the honour of meeting Mayor Oh Se-hoon at Seoul City Hall as part of the Seoul International Design Forum for which I had travelled from Canada for. On the way to the event, my first time in the city, I was struck by how integrated the design disciplines were. I recall saying to a colleague “When we were in China, we were saying they are catching up with us. In Korea, they have already blown by us.” Why? In Canada, the design disciplines were siloed: here in Seoul, they were delightfully integrated, both horizontally and vertically: from alphabet to surface to building to infrastructure. To discuss one without the others simply didn't compute, and I wondered “How is this done”? The answer came when I was introduced to the person to the Mayor’s left: their business card read “Chief Design Officer”. At that point in my career as a speaker, I had travelled to over 40 countries, and this was the first time I had heard of a City having a CDO. This explained how Seoul was doing such an impressive job of integrating the design disciplines. Ever since, in many travels, I have shown that card as evidence of a keystone to excellent design governance ... to any government clients who would listen. Here in Canada, we have our design strengths that are admired by others, such as our leadership in inclusive design, our national flag, and many other proud habits. However, every time someone in our government asks me how we can maximize the value of design I tell them it all starts with what Seoul has done: every major plan should be vetted by a CDO in the C-Suite, sprinkling design thinking into every project charter. -
[Special Interview] Prof. Dr. Peter Zec
As someone currently traveling across Asia, could you share your thoughts on what you find most inspiring about Seoul’s design compared to other cities in the region? I think Seoul has developed very strongly in the last decades and I would compare the designers from Seoul and from Korea with the designers from Italy.