Namwon City Holds 'Renaissance Living Lab Policy Forum'

Discussion on Strategies to Expand Namwon-Style Resident Population

On December 11, Namwon City in North Jeolla Province held the 'Namwon Renaissance Living Lab Policy Forum' at the city hall auditorium. The forum focused on discussing strategies to expand Namwon's resident population in line with the national balanced development strategy, known as the 'Five Axes and Three Special Zones' policy, and explored ways to enhance the city's sustainable vitality.

Namwon City Hall exterior view. Provided by Namwon City

According to the city, a Living Lab is an on-site, open policy experimentation model in which citizens, experts, and administrators participate together to identify and address local issues. The forum was organized to facilitate effective policy discussions that reflect the perspectives of those on the ground.

This forum was co-hosted by Namwon City and the Woosuk University RISE Project Group, and organized by the Woosuk University RISE Project Group and the Regional Cooperation Center. Approximately 200 people attended, including officials from related organizations and local residents.

The first session, under the theme "How Should Namwon Prepare for Expanding Its Resident Population in the Era of Five Axes and Three Special Zones?", featured Shin Yonghan, Vice Chairperson of the Committee for the Local Era. He delivered a keynote speech emphasizing the need for a national balanced growth strategy based on mega-city zones for each of the Five Axes and Three Special Zones, under the topic "The Region Must Thrive for Korea to Thrive." He also highlighted the importance of strengthening the foundation for young people to settle through ultra-wide regional development strategies.

Following this, Hong Miseon, Director of Planning and Budget at Namwon City, introduced Namwon's future strategies under the theme "Strategies to Expand Namwon's Resident Population." These strategies included attracting national institutions, fostering future growth industries, and establishing glocal tourism hubs.

In particular, the city announced plans to move beyond policies centered solely on the registered population, expanding policy targets to include foreigners and 'Nuri citizens' (non-registered residents), and to increase the resident population through ongoing relationship building.

Park Kyunghyun, Director of the National Balanced Development Support Center, presented on the topic "Five Axes and Three Special Zones: National Balanced Growth Strategy and Sustainable Vitalization of Namwon." He outlined changes in balanced development policies, directions for ultra-wide regional initiatives, the national significance of the Five Axes and Three Special Zones, and response strategies for Jeonbuk Province and Namwon City.

Subsequently, a comprehensive panel discussion was held, moderated by Han Kyunggu, Secretary General of the National Assembly Forum for Regional Balanced Development. Panelists included Shin Changhwan, Head of the Population Crisis Team at North Jeolla Province; Park Chanyong, President of the Korea Regional Contents Agency; Noh Gyehyang, Director of the Together Autonomy Research Institute; Lee Mina, former Director of the Gyeongbuk Resident Population Support Center; and Park Kyunghyun, Director of the National Balanced Development Support Center. The discussion delved into practical implementation strategies and policy linkages for expanding the resident population.

A city official stated, "This forum marks the starting point for discussing a new paradigm of local revitalization centered on the resident population, based on the opinions of citizens, research institutions, and experts, rather than solely on administrative perspectives. We will build a sustainable foundation for regional growth that leverages Namwon's unique characteristics and strengths, based on the various strategies proposed at the forum."

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