• Seoul Urban Regeneration International Conference 2020 will be held from October 22 through 23 and it will be live streamed on YouTube
• It will become a leading global conference for urban regeneration in partnership with UN-Habitat sharing policies and experiences
• Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup will present five visions for the city’s urban regeneration at his keynote speech
• Public officials, experts and young people from countries including the U.K. and Iran will get together to discuss the direction in the post COVID-19 era

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, October 22, 2020 – The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will host the “Seoul Urban Regeneration International Conference 2020” on October 22 and 23 under the theme of “Post COVID-19, the Future and Strategy of Urban Regeneration.” The conference will take place in an online video conference format and be live streamed on Seoul’s official YouTube channel.

· Seoul Metropolitan Government’s official Youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/seoullive
· Seoul Urban Regeneration International Conference 2020: http://www.s-uric.com

This conference is an event that the value and vision of the urban regeneration and future strategies for the post COVID-19 era that will be discussed as major changes are expected to make in every aspect of life including society, economy and culture in the post-coronavirus era.

Since the conference is held in partnership with the “Urban October” of UN-Habit, an international organization under the United Nations, it is expected to be a world-class international conference both in terms of the volume and substance. At the conference, the city government is going to share its urban regeneration policies and experiences it has been pushing forward over the last nine years and discuss future directions to take with participants.

* “Urban October” is a variety of events and activities carried out by UN-Habit along with their partner countries, cities, and organizations for a sustainable city for one month of October every year.

The opening ceremony of the conference will start at 2pm, October 22, with an opening announcement, followed by the keynote speeches made by Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup on the “Roles of Urban Regeneration in Dealing with Urban Crisis” and by Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat on “International Cooperation and Urban Regeneration and Resilience.”

In addition, congratulatory remarks will be delivered by Sameh Wahba, Global Director of World Bank; Kim Hee-Girl, Chairman of City Planning and Management Committee at the Seoul Metropolitan Council; and Lee Chung-Kee, Honorary Mayor of Urban Regeneration at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

At Sessions 1 through 3, various participants including scholars, experts, activists, young people, and students with interest in public sector and urban regeneration from different countries including Kenya, the United Kingdom, Poland, the United States, Malaysia, Iran, and Egypt will share their knowledge and experiences and discuss directions to take in the future.

Acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup stated, “Now is time to make the city focus more on people and sustainability for the future and realize the prolonged idea of moving towards sustainable civilization.” He added “This conference is to seek the future direction of urban regeneration as a sustainable urban management model for the post COVID-19 era. We will refer to opinions about urban regeneration from various participants including experts, young people and citizens from home and abroad when practicing our policies to recover the city and improve the living quality for the citizens.”

[Overview of Seoul Urban Regeneration International Conference 2020]

□ Overview
○ Dates & Venue: October 22 (Thu.) – 23 (Fri.), 2020 at SEOUL ON (video conference studio)
○ Objectives:
– Continuous enhancement of exchanges and cooperation among cities on their urban regeneration policies for the post COVID-19 era
– Share success stories of urban regeneration in Seoul
○ Theme: Post COVID-19, the Future and Strategy of Urban Regeneration
(In connection with 2020 Urban October events)
○ Operation: Video Conference
– Live streaming on Seoul’s official YouTube channel in Korean/English with real-time communication with viewers

□ Program
○ Opening Session: Opening Announcement, Video on Urban Regeneration, Congratulatory Remarks, and Keynote Speeches
– Delivered by Acting Mayor of Seoul, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Chairman of City Planning and Management Committee at Seoul Metropolitan Council, and Honorary Mayor of Urban Regeneration at Seoul Metropolitan Government

○ Session 1: Community Resilience and Rise (presentations and penal discussion)
– Seek urban resilience and leap-forward through local community-based urban regeneration
– Head of Urban Regeneration Office at Seoul Metropolitan Government, Peter bishop (Professor at London University), Mayor of Katowice City, Poland and others

○ Session 2: Urban Living Labs for Changes in Everyday Places
– Living Labs performed in advance to find ideas on how to improve everyday places for the post COVID-19 era
– Share success stories on ‘a small experiment that changes a local community’ and have panel discussion

○ Session 3: Case Studies for Connecting World and Sharing Value of Urban Regeneration
– Business planning project implemented in advance by a public official of a developing country sharing the urban regeneration value of Seoul
– Share best practices where S-urban regeneration value was realized, and have panel discussion

○ Special Talk: Change and Future Value of Urban Regeneration in Post COVID-19 Era
– Vice Mayor II for Administrative Affairs at Seoul Metropolitan Government, Michael Batty (Professor, London university), Andy Merrifield (Writer, Urban Scholar and Educator), Suh, Soontak (President, University of Seoul)