10 Years of Pohang Built with Citizens... Securing New Growth Engines and Strengthening Urban Competitiveness

Establishing a New Vision in the 6th Term, Boosting Urban Competitiveness in the 7th Term

The 8th Term Shows Results and Focuses on Preparing for the Next 100 Years

Mayor Lee Kangduk: "Enhancing Urban Competitiveness to Build a Greater Future for Pohang"

As a result of Pohang City's dedicated efforts over the past decade to secure sustainable growth engines for the city, visible achievements such as strengthened urban competitiveness have become prominent.

Lee Gangdeok, mayor of Pohang, is explaining the changes in Pohang over the past 10 years at a press conference held on the 1st to mark the 10th anniversary of his inauguration.

In 2014, with the launch of the 6th popularly elected administration, the city set a new vision for the future by preparing for change together with its citizens. Entering the 7th administration, the city began to actively pursue core projects, accelerating the leap in urban competitiveness.

Now in the 8th administration, the efforts made so far are yielding tangible results, and steady preparations are underway for the next 100 years.

Since 2014, Pohang City has presented a future vision for a city with new competitiveness under the slogan "Change Together, Leap Forward Pohang," based on empathy and communication with citizens, the true owners of city administration.

In particular, the city began efforts to diversify the local industrial structure, which had been heavily dependent on steel, by actively fostering three major new industries?secondary batteries, hydrogen, and bio?as future growth engines expected to see rapid growth.

Important steps were taken to secure the city's future competitiveness, such as attracting investment from Ecopro (2016), forming the Haeoreum Alliance (2017), and launching the Cultural Foundation (2017). Pohang also began establishing unique R&D infrastructure with the opening of the Creative Economy Innovation Center (2015) and the completion of the 4th Generation Synchrotron Accelerator (2016).

Additionally, through communication with citizens, the Yangdeok Horse Riding Center was transformed into the Yangdeok Hanmadang Gymnasium (2016) after thorough deliberation, and long-standing civil complaints were addressed, such as completing the Hyoja Rainwater Pumping Station project by reflecting residents' opinions as much as possible.

The 7th administration focused on accelerating key projects such as industrial structure innovation through the fostering of new industries and improving the urban residential environment through the Greenway Project.

The Cheolgil Forest, the flagship project of the Greenway, was completed in 2019, and the Haedo Urban Forest was established in 2020, rapidly expanding the city's green infrastructure. In addition, the city achieved notable improvements in various administrative fields closely related to citizens' lives, such as being designated a Legal Cultural City and launching urban regeneration New Deal projects in Pohang Old Port and Jungang-dong.

Furthermore, Pohang succeeded in designating three national strategic zones: "Small but Strong R&D Special Zone," "Battery Regulation-Free Special Zone," and "Yeongilman Tourism Special Zone," thereby securing new growth engines suitable for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the establishment of innovative R&D infrastructure unique to Pohang?such as the Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center, Bio Open Innovation Center, Membrane Protein Research Institute, and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Certification Center?the transition to an industrial structure centered on the three major new industries has gained momentum.

The 8th administration has become a period in which visible achievements have emerged, leading balanced regional development and opening a sustainable future. Last year, the city attracted a record-high 7.4 trillion KRW in corporate investment, bringing the cumulative total to approximately 16.5 trillion KRW.

Additionally, Pohang became the first in the nation to be selected in two fields?secondary batteries and recently bio?in the National Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complex category. Along with this, the city was consecutively selected for national projects that will lead balanced regional development and a new era of local autonomy, such as the Opportunity Development Zone, Global Corporate Innovation Park, Education Development Zone pilot area, and POSTECH's Glocal University Project.

Based on these achievements, Pohang City plans to complete its future as: ▲ a high value-added knowledge industry city centered on new industries ▲ an eco-friendly and energy hub city responding to carbon neutrality and climate change ▲ a balanced development hub city with the best residential conditions overcoming the era of local extinction ▲ a marine culture and tourism city full of joy and happiness ▲ and a leading international governance city representing Korea.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok stated, "Although there have been many domestic and international challenges over the past 10 years, we were able to overcome crises and create meaningful changes in the city because of the 500,000 citizens who stood with us," and emphasized, "I will devote my passion to further enhancing the city's competitiveness and completing a greater future for Pohang."

Since his 10th anniversary press conference on July 1, Mayor Lee has been actively engaging in on-site communication activities, including meetings with local elders and various organizations, company visits, and visits to disaster recovery sites.

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