Seoul to Promote Nationwide Collaboration with Metropolitan Governments through Design
- Seoul to provide its design development expertise and outputs to metropolitan governments across Korea.
- Support initiatives include matching design advisory groups, participation in development processes, provision of iF Design Award-winning "Fun Design Chairs," and joint project development.
- Applications open until Friday, May 16th, 2025.
- Initiative aims to promote a governance model for the social co-utilization of Seoul’s design assets.
<Seoul’s Accumulated Design Expertise to Actively Support Metropolitan Governments Nationwide>
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the launch of the "Design Seoul Metropolitan Cooperation Initiative," aiming to support metropolitan governments nationwide by sharing Seoul’s design expertise.
Since being designated the World Design Capital in 2010, Seoul has been Korea’s first metropolitan government to incorporate design values into urban administration and has steadily built expertise across various fields of urban design.
Seoul emphasizes that many urban challenges can be addressed through design, and its design assets can be applied to other cities as well. Therefore, Seoul is initiating metropolitan cooperation efforts to promote the shared, social utilization of its design resources.
Three Key Areas of the Cooperation Initiative:
<① Technical Design Support: Deployment of Expert Advisors and Joint Workshops>
Seoul will assign its design specialists to support design development projects undertaken by other metropolitan governments through the "Design Advisory Group", providing practical technical assistance.
Over the years, Seoul has accumulated significant expertise and deliverables in standard designs for public facilities, safety design, problem-solving design for social issues, and the creation of urban landscape spots, becoming a benchmark for other cities.
Recently, Seoul’s designs — such as the subway line map, the "Fun Series," and the "Runner's Station" — have won international design awards, drawing great interest from many local governments, underscoring the need for broader technological sharing.
Although Seoul has previously provided informal advice and support upon request, the city has now formalized these efforts with the establishment of the "Design Advisory Group" to deliver structured and substantial technical support.
In cases where specific design technology support is requested by another city, Seoul’s experienced experts — those with actual project development backgrounds — will directly participate in the development process of the requesting city.
Rather than offering only one-time consultations or basic benchmarking support, Seoul will provide in-depth technical guidance and hands-on development know-how, minimizing unnecessary trial and error and helping produce high-quality design outcomes.
Additionally, Seoul and each participating local government will co-host joint workshops to discuss urban design challenges and explore solutions together.
(Seoul and Busan, for example, co-hosted the "Seoul–Busan Design Policy Workshop" in Busan from March 27 to 28.)
<② Support for Design Outputs: Provision of "Form & Form Chairs" (2 models)>
Seoul will directly provide design outputs to metropolitan governments. The supported design is the "Form & Form Chairs" (two models), part of Seoul’s Fun Design Series, which won a main award at this year’s iF International Design Awards.
As flexible and playful pieces of furniture that can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors, the Form & Form Chairs have already gained popularity among citizens at locations like Cheonggyecheon Stream and public parks.
To promote inter-city cooperation, Seoul plans to provide a limited number of these chairs to other metropolitan governments, following the appropriate procedures for donated goods.
<③Joint Development of Design Projects: Achieving Economies of Scale and Sharing Outcomes>
Seoul also plans to promote joint design project development with other metropolitan governments.
When there are shared needs or large-scale projects, the cities will collaborate by dividing roles and jointly developing the projects, allowing the resulting outputs to be shared among them.
This joint development approach is aimed at realizing economies of scale.
While public design needs across Korea are large and diverse, disparities exist in the design production capabilities of different metropolitan governments, often making it difficult to meet demand individually.
*Note: Among Korea’s 17 metropolitan governments, only Seoul and Busan have independent design organizations at the bureau level; others operate under departmental structures.
<2025 Design Seoul Metropolitan Cooperation Initiative: Applications Open Until May 16>
Seoul announced the "2025 Design Seoul Metropolitan Cooperation Initiative" and is accepting participation applications from metropolitan governments nationwide until May 16. (Official notices have already been distributed.)
Metropolitan governments that wish to: Receive technical support or access design deliverables from Seoul, or Propose ideas for joint project development,
should submit an official application letter to Seoul.
Applications will be reviewed for eligibility and relevance before final decisions are made.
Choi Inkyu, Seoul’s Director-General at Design Policy Bureau, stated: “Design provides diverse solutions for urban challenges. If Seoul’s design expertise and achievements can be shared with other cities, their value will be further amplified.
We hope that Seoul’s experience will prove useful to many other metropolitan governments, and we look forward to enthusiastic participation in this inaugural initiative.”
*References (
1. Supported Design Technologies
