2019 Technical Deep Dive on Urban Regeneration

Theme: KRIHS-SMG-WB Joint Workshop on Urban Regeneration

Date: February 21(Thu) - 23(Sat), 2019

Venue: The Westin Chosun Seoul (2F)

The Global Development Partnership Center(GDPC) at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements(KRIHS) held the joint workshop titled ‘Technical Deep Dive on Urban Regeneration’ with Seoul Metropolitan Government(SMG) and World Bank(WB) from February 21(Thu) to 23(Sat) at Cosmos Room at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Korea.

The workshop was attended by about 55 people including 26 policy practitioners and government officials from 14 countries (Cameroon, Malawi, South Africa, China, Malaysia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Honduras, Uruguay, Egypt, Palestine, Afghanistan and India), 29 regional consultants and staffs from World Bank Group (WBG).

The joint workshop took place in two largest cities, Tokyo and Seoul, which enabled participants to study urban regeneration policy making and case studies in both countries. It is designed to provide applicable measures to participants’ countries through presentations, lectures and field trips. At the same time, they employed quite different strategies and approaches so this workshop would be a good opportunity to compare their differences and distinctiveness.

In the opening ceremony, the president of KRIHS, Hyunsoo Kang expressed thanks to the participants and was honored that KRIHS has a history of sharing knowledge and experiences on national territorial and urban development since it was established in 1978, and it could contribute to making urban regeneration policies in participant countries. Also he suggested to continually proceed future cooperation between KRIHS and participant countries after this workshop.

On the last day of the program, during the action plan presentation, participants presented implications from the workshop, and short, medium and long-term plans of each country, and possible projects with WB, KRIHS and SMG. Also panels provided additional feedback on the action plan presentations and suggestions and considerations for future cooperation and it established important foundation to plan medium and long-term plan.

In the closing ceremony, moderated by the Lead Knowledge Management Specialist of WB, Phil Karp, each participant shared ideas and implications on urban development of Korea and Japan during the workshop. The director of the GDPC at KRIHS, Se Hoon Park highlighted the importance of expanding knowledge sharing and policy consultation for developing regional models through trilateral cooperation among KRIHS, WB and participant countries. Also he suggested to continually proceed following projects in a variety forms and explore other cooperative sectors reflecting mutual interest.

[Opening Ceremony (Feb. 21), The Westin Chosun Seoul (Cosmos Room, 2F)]