Seoul Design
International Forum
서울디자인국제포럼

[2023 Seoul International Design Forum] Visited the 'Yes! Kids Zone' Designed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Experienced Public Design!

Yes! Kids Zone is a space designed to address the growing problems of obesity, depression, and lethargy among adolescents who have limited opportunities for physical activity due to their academic-oriented lifestyle. Yes! Kids Zone is located in Hanti Park and the surrounding school routes, and is located right in front of the Daechi Police Station.

[2023 Seoul Design International Forum] A Visit to Hwamok Senior Welfare Center: A Space That Warms the Heart

Hello! I am Geum Ye-hyun, who was selected as a Seoul Design International Forum supporter. Have you heard of “Seoul Design”? Today, our community is facing various challenges due to various global issues. Seoul Design refers to Seoul's design vision to respond to these challenges, enhance the city's competitiveness, and allow everyone to enjoy a happy life. The main activities to implement the vision are to first develop creative and sustainable design content to solve various problems encountered in everyday life, creating a safe, convenient, and sustainable urban environment. It also increases the number of distinctive design contents in everyday life, providing memorable experiences to citizens to lead them to a charming city, and ultimately leading the city to the global world network. If so, let's find out what kind of discussions the Seoul Design International Forum will be having to drive the charm of the city.

[2023 Seoul Design International Forum] Enjoying nature and the leisure of life in the heart of Seoul, “Open Songhyun Green Plaza Soul Drops Bench”

Hello everyone! I am Choi Jiwon, who has been active as a supporter of the [2023 Seoul Design International Forum (SDIF)]. I am a person who is interested in spaces and lives that give people healing and leisure as innovative ideas in the public realm. I applied for the supporter with a strong will, and I am grateful that I was accepted. From now on, I would like to introduce you to the “Seoul Design” that allows you to take a break from your busy daily life, refresh the world, and enjoy a human-centered city and life, and “public design places” that reflect Seoul Design. What is Seoul Design? Seoul's design vision is to address the challenges facing communities around the world and to enhance the city's competitiveness and create a happy life for everyone. Seoul Design is based on four principles: First, it develops creative and sustainable design solutions to solve various problems encountered in daily life, creating a safe, convenient, and mutually beneficial urban environment. Second, it leads the world by reflecting innovative technologies and the unique characteristics of the city through design. Third, it increases the number of distinctive design contents in everyday life, satisfying the emotions of citizens and providing an impressive experience to attract the city's charm. Fourth, it aims to create a design community in which many people, including experts, industry, and citizens, participate and think together.

Seoul City's "Yes! Kids Zone!" has won a prestigious global design award

- 'Adolescents Obesity Problem Solution Design' wins prestigious award from US-based DMI (Design Management Institute) in 2023 - First Domestic award for a 'Public Institution'... Design encourages voluntary activities with exploration concepts from five countries - The city vows to continue expanding lifestyle design to support healthy and stable life across all stages of life.

[2023 Seoul International Design Forum] Environmentally Characteristic Space, Maeumpul Seoul Metropolitan Mullae Youth Center

Hello! I am Park Jun-hee, a supporter of the 2023 Seoul Design International Forum. First, let's learn about Seoul Design! What is Seoul Design? Seoul Design is Seoul's vision for design, which responds to the challenges facing communities due to various global issues. It aims to enhance the city's competitiveness and ensure that everyone can live a happy life. Seoul Design develops creative and sustainable design solutions to address various problems faced in everyday life. It creates a safe, convenient, and inclusive urban environment. It is truly amazing that Seoul is leading the world with its design that reflects innovative technologies and the city's unique characteristics. By creating more distinctive design content in everyday life, Seoul Design satisfies the senses of citizens and provides memorable experiences, which in turn enhances the city's appeal. Through events that carry such meaning and content, Seoul Design aims to create a design community where experts, businesses, and citizens can participate and collaborate together.

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!

The Innovative City for the Next Generation(the MZ Generation): Advancing Towards Ultra Connectivity and the Real World

Space defines an experience. At a café, we drink a beverage. In a museum, we see exhibits. People have the same experience at a specific space and sometimes need to stand in a long line. No one think this is weird. On the other hand, for spaces in a movie or a video game we enjoy on a daily basis, a content defines an experience. The main character may stay in a space where a fantasy adventure unfolds or where characters play cat and mouse with each other in a spectacular event. The same space can be a world where so many stories turn into reality. What would happen if the two worlds are merged into one? What would happen if our world turns into a huge playground and all of us become main characters of an exciting story? What would happen if you can share the experience you have had in a movie or a video game with people in a real world? To prove these hypotheses, I would like to guide you to a space which was once an unattractive neighborhood filled with factories and vehicles but is now a must-go place for MZ generation, and a space where once dull and inactive places have become popular spots for a lot of visitors and even a city-wide festival.

Going Public

The public realm is not a default condition, but rather something which must be actively produced, designed, and constructed. How we design it has the capacity to transform how we identify ourselves as part of a collective society, how we form common values and common ground, and how the notion of “the public” is constituted—to design for the public realm is also to design a public through that realm. Today, it is a site of overlapping constituencies, interests and stakeholders that create a layered set of complex interests constantly in negotiation. Because design is inherently specific, we value this specificity to make meaning, engage audiences, and create place. In this lecture, J. Meejin Yoon will present projects that address the public realm as a site of negotiation and formation, where placemaking, activation and design intersect to produce the “urban alchemy” of the contemporary city. This lecture will demonstrate how design has the capacity to engage the public and transform the public realm.

Design Seoul 2.0 Design Policy and Future Strategies

What projects does the Seoul Metropolitan Government pursue to create a ‘fun and vibrant city of Seoul’? The Seoul Metropolitan Government is actively pursuing the 「Design Seoul 2.0 Project」 in its endeavor to establish ‘Seoul as a fun and vibrant city’. This comprehensive plan focused on propelling Seoul into a top 5 global city characterized by an abundance of vitality and charm. The objective is to create a city that is cherished by global citizens, a city where the creativity of its citizens is fully realized, and a city that adheres to global standards while preserving Seoul’s unique identity. To achieve this vision, ‘Active Seoul’ is based on five principles which are empathetic, inclusive, contribution, resilient, and sustainable design. The following is an overview of project initiatives. ① Empathetic design that feels pride and pleasure in the uniqueness of Seoul. ② Inclusive design for everyone. ③ Contribution design created by citizens and businesses together. ④Resilient design responsible for the safety and health of citizens. ⑤ Sustainable design that saves the environment and economy. Further details of the project will be outlined based on these five principles.

From Ideas to Implementation, Transforming Limits into Opportunities in Design

An inclusive city through practical design solutions With plummeting global population, we are heading toward an era where people establish their own worldviews. Wouldn’t we be able to embrace the city we are living in today a little more if we realize our ideas into practice and talk about the warmth of the world? Let’s talk about the seven key words of love, memory, enjoyment, respect, imagination, value, and nature.

Role of Design: Assist Co-existence of People / Environment / Technology

In a rapidly changing technology era, and in a world where online and offline experiences are interconnected, what kind of role should design play in providing experiences for users, such as citizens, members, clients? Let’s discuss the role through space/architecture cases of NAVER. I will introduce to you several cases regarding the company’s office space “NAVER 1784,” training center “Connect One” in Chuncheon, and data centers in Chuncheon and Sejong each, all of which are outcomes of the following: connection of convergence technologies and users; enhanced user experiences; contemplation on the environment and alternatives; and study on roles and responsibilities of businesses.

Design for All: A Visit to the Pedestrian Pathways in Olympic Park

What is Seoul Design? Seoul Design is a design version of Seoul that increases the competitiveness of the city and allows anyone to lead a happy life in response to the challenges faced by the community due to various global issues. To solve various problems encountered in everyday life, we develop creative and sustainable design solutions to create a safe, convenient, and win-win urban environment. Using public design technology, we are leading the world city through innovative technologies and designs that reflect the unique characteristics of the city, and forming a design community that is considered together by many experts, industries, and citizens. As a student majoring in architectural engineering, I think the public design and the Seoul design policy of Seoul City around us are valuable resources that make life convenient for many citizens.

In the DDP where the Seoul Design International Forum was held, let's feel Seoul's own public design!!

The Seoul Design International Forum is held annually, and last year, the 2022 Seoul Design International Forum was held under the theme "DESIGN x Seoul: How Design Enrichs the Future." The SDIF Seoul Design International Forum offers insights on how various designs and designs can be combined with municipalities such as welfare, culture, and transportation to strategically promote collaboration within an organization and advance the overall level of service in a municipal administration.

A city that everyone wants to visit and live in - Design Seoul 2.0

It is quite interesting that the English word ‘space’, which means ‘universe’, also means space. For a long time, philosophers have also interpreted the universe as one of ‘space.’ If the place commonly referred to as ‘space’ is not limited to places with physical walls or boundaries such as houses, schools, offices, and cafes, then ‘cities’ can also be seen as the space in which we live. In that respect, urban design is close to spatial design in a broad sense. Because we all live within the city, setting boundaries and stepping on the land. The appearance of various parts of the city is also the appearance of our space and the way we live.

Seoul Metropolitan Government creates the “Yard for Centenarians” at welfare service centers and parks near homes for daily prevention of dementia

- Development of a spacial design for physical, emotional and social activities of senior citizens to prepare for prolonged pandemic and super-aged society - Applied to Songpa Senior Welfare Service Center for the first time, 200㎡ scale construction…Mayor Oh Se-hoon will visit the site on the 13th - Exercise equipment to strengthen muscles for performing daily activities, emotional healing area, e.g., gardening and exhibition, social exchange area, e.g., stage and games - An “age-friendly environment,” where people can gain access and live long and healthy in their living areas…Four additional yards by next March

Public Space and Design for Everyday Lives of Citizens

City is an inevitable space of life for the modern people. The skyline that we are currently experiencing, the plaza, parks, natural environments and so forth are mostly the result of the city plan that was systemized in the past, and until now, the urban space was planned to play its role in line with the usage that was planned and defined based on function. Various parts of cities that achieved industrial competitiveness by prioritizing efficiency and economics is far from ‘user-centric approaches’ and achieving ‘sustainability’ that is the focus of today’s society. Future city should be restructured into a space that can enable exchange and circulation based on the needs and the thoughts of citizens or stakeholders of local communities, and aged spaces and the environment should be improved to resolve urban issues.

Resource Circulation of the City and Sustainable Design

The life system of today’s humanity is the result of economic growth, and problems that major cities face are mainly focused on areas that can be resolved by technological advancement and economic growth, such as poverty and illness. However rapid growth and advancement across the globe led to qualitative diversification of urban issues, and the humanity focused on the concept of sustainable development and limit in growth resulting from social imbalance and unsustainable phenomenon that are being observeds regardless of region. The concept of sustainability was first mentioned in the report, The Limits to Growth written by the Club of Rome in 1972. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED,1987) defined ‘sustainability’ as ‘development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’, and it is recently being used broadly across economic, management, climate, environmental and national policies and private activities.

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.