Sustainable Growth for Pohang, Seeking Breakthrough in Regional Decline through 'Large-Scale Private Investment Attraction'!

Establishing 'Innovation DNA Park' to Lay the Foundation for 3 Major New Industries

Transforming into a 'Marine Leisure Park' to Prepare for the Era of 10 Million Tourists

To achieve sustainable growth in Pohang, a breakthrough against regional extinction will be sought through attracting large-scale private investments.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City in Gyeongbuk Province, as part of the 8th elected administration's bigger dreams and challenges, is discovering Pohang’s unique resources and establishing a master plan for private investment projects to attract large-scale investments, expecting population inflow and regional economic revitalization to overcome the issues of local extinction and population decline.

With the nationwide acceleration of local population decline and the crisis of local extinction, Pohang City is also facing threats to maintaining its population of 500,000 due to youth outflow. The 8th elected administration has set a long-term vision to attract large-scale private investments that will lead to population inflow, stable settlement, and economic revitalization through increased floating population, aiming to complete a greater Pohang.

The city has identified the core elements for attracting private investment as ▲ Industrial complexes: active corporate attraction through preempting new industries such as batteries, bio, and hydrogen ▲ Old downtown revitalization: regeneration of old downtown areas through projects like the Greenway Project ▲ Talent attraction and development: expansion of educational assets and research facilities such as POSTECH and Handong University ▲ Expansion of tourism infrastructure: activation of tourism resources including drama filming locations.

First, Pohang is creating the ‘Innovation DNA Park’ by securing industrial land for sustainable future job creation. The Yeongilman 4 General Industrial Complex, being developed over 780,000 pyeong in Heunghae-eup with a total project cost of 762.1 billion KRW, is nearing a 90% occupancy rate with battery-related companies such as POSCO Chemical, GS Construction, and EcoPro moving in, marking Pohang’s emergence as a hub for the secondary battery industry following its steel industry prominence.

Looking ahead, with preparations to foster three major new industries?secondary batteries, bio, and hydrogen?and anticipating new demands in various fields such as medical research complexes and smart rural complexes, the city plans to establish a comprehensive plan for creating an environment including infrastructure so that companies can move in promptly, considering the long time required to secure new industrial land.

Alongside this, Pohang will develop its own ‘Central Park’ as a landmark in the old downtown where people and culture gather again. Following the decision last year to build a new high-rise landmark on the site of the old Pohang Station, a 70-story mixed-use residential building?the tallest in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region?is planned, expected to revitalize the old downtown, which has been stagnating due to population outflow and commercial decline, and play a key role in urban regeneration projects.

The old Pohang Station site is divided into two districts: District 2 is collaborating with Korea Railroad Corporation to promote the construction of a high-rise mixed-use residential building by Shinsegae Construction, while District 1, owned by the National Railroad Corporation, is undergoing continuous consultations to develop it as a Pohang landmark linked with the Central Greenway, ecological stream restoration, and the central shopping district.

Furthermore, Pohang is establishing the ‘ESG Global Corporate Innovation Park’ to lead sustainable local cities.

In November last year, Pohang became the first city nationwide to invite Ban Ki-moon, the 8th UN Secretary-General, to proclaim itself an ESG city. To create a healthy city, it has implemented ESG global citizenship education, fostered ESG startups, and discovered sustainable business models, leading ESG values proactively and laying the foundation for active private investment from global investors.

For the first time nationwide, Ban Ki-moon, the 8th UN Secretary-General, was invited to declare the city as an ESG city.

Through agreements with Pohang’s unique resources such as the Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute, the UNAI Korea Council, Handong University, and SparkLabs?one of the world’s top three accelerators?Pohang is strengthening the ESG startup ecosystem and expanding related infrastructure by establishing an ESG Global Innovation Park centered on local universities to attract many investors and entrepreneurs.

As a measure to increase floating population in preparation for an era of 10 million tourists, Pohang plans to transform its existing steel city image into a marine leisure tourism city by creating an attractive ‘Marine Leisure Park’ unique to Pohang.

Recently, the city has been focusing on promoting the excellent coastal scenery of Yeongilman as a drama filming location along with the designation of the Yeongilman Tourism Special Zone, attracting tourists to surfing zones in Yonghan-ri, Homigot tourist sites, and more. The city plans to attract large-scale private investment projects to develop diverse content and expand tourism infrastructure.

By revitalizing the Homigot tourist site through leisure, rest, and workation, redeveloping the Guryongpo port, expanding leisure facilities such as golf courses, and fostering new growth industries, Pohang aims to ensure stable settlement of incoming population. Additionally, through expanding urban marine tourism infrastructure such as the Hwanho Express Hotel, marine cable car, and old port redevelopment, the city plans to complete a marine leisure tourism city where citizens can simultaneously enjoy tourism, leisure, and recreation.

Mayor Kang-deok Lee stated, “We will continue to refine the master plan for private investment projects through ongoing discussions and consultations with the central government, related experts, and private operators, as well as communication with citizens, completing the tasks step by step. We will do our best to overcome the crisis of local extinction, attract large-scale private investments, and lead a vibrant city where people gather, a healthy city with sustainable growth that brings out the resilience of our citizens.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.