Next Year's WCS Market Forum Confirmed in Seoul... Oh "Discussing Partnership with Global Markets and the Vulnerable"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is delivering a special speech at the '2022 World Cities Summit Mayors Forum' held at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Hall on the afternoon of the 31st (local time). (Photo by Seoul City Accompanying Press Team)

[Singapore=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Seoul has been confirmed as the host city for next year's "World Cities Summit Mayors Forum (WCSMF)."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is visiting Singapore to attend the World Cities Summit (WCS), signed a business agreement with Hugh Lim, Director of the Singapore Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), on the 31st of last month to confirm Seoul as the host city.

On the 1st, Mayor Oh proposed in a special speech at the WCS opening ceremony, "Next year, let us share the blueprint of future Seoul and stories to enrich citizens' lives with mayors from around the world, and discuss solutions to emerging challenges." In particular, he introduced Seoul's top priority value of "walking with the vulnerable" and related policies such as guaranteed income, high-quality rental housing, and Seoul-style public healthcare services.

The day before, as an invited speaker at the WCSMF, he delivered an approximately 7-minute and 30-second English presentation on the theme of "Digital Transformation and Carbon Neutrality," presenting various policies of Seoul. He stated, "Digital transformation must provide administrative services without constraints of time and space under the premise of connecting people," introducing policies such as the world's first "Metaverse Seoul" and "Seoul Run."

The WCS is a gathering where mayors from cities worldwide, along with political, business, and academic figures, share challenges toward sustainable cities and form new partnerships. It is held every two years under the auspices of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Singapore's Ministry of National Development and the CLC. After being postponed due to COVID-19, it was held in person for the first time in three years. The WCSMF is one of the WCS programs.

Meanwhile, on the 31st of last month, Mayor Oh met separately with Michael Ludwig, Mayor of Vienna, Austria, and Mihhail K?lvart, Mayor of Tallinn, Estonia, exchanging views on joint issues such as public housing and smart cities and exploring policy cooperation measures.

Mayor Oh stated, "Through participating in this WCS, I shared various concerns of urban leaders and gained insights on ways to create better cities to live in," adding, "Reflecting this, we will make thorough preparations to successfully host next year's WCSMF."

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