SEOUL: TRADITION & MODERNITY MIX IN THIS CITY Royal palaces with a history of 600 years meet the forest of high-rise buildings. In alleys where the use of Wi-Fi is readily available, the quiet stillness of Korean traditional houses packed snugly side-by- side amazes people. With the beautiful Hangang River as its background, citizens’ festivals are held all year round, and the exciting buzz of youthful streets is gen- erating creative energy and spreading the wave of Korean pop culture across the world. We would like to share the story of Seoul, the city of sustainable urban regeneration that is opening up for the future of contemporary cities. About the Prize 2018 Prize Laureate: Seoul LEE KUAN YEW The Seoul Master Plan 2030 is a highly remarkable turning point in the city’s O planning processes. Under the inspiring leadership of Mayor Park Won-soon, WORLD CITY the city made the bold move to make citizen participation the norm of all plans, and bottom-up processes its primary focus. Ground-up processes are incor- PRIZE porated in day-to-day operations under the Community Governance Project where residents are given a say over local issues that affect their communities directly. Citizens can also decide the use of up to 5% of the entire city budget (or 55.5 million KRW) under the Public Participatory Budget System. Through regular monitoring and publishing of results in the press, and its exemplary use of big data in its decision-making to focus even on minute details, the city has ensured utmost transparency to its citizenry; no one is left out. The city Seoul is recognised as the role model for megacities with a will to change. not only managed to build trust with the citizens, but also assured them that With a leadership that dares to take bold decisions and a government that engagement is not merely a token gesture, but one that will truly shape and devises innovative problem-solving methods, the city has successfully turned reshape the future of the city. itself around from a highly bureaucratic top-down city with rising tensions “Through the Prize, we hope to draw inspiration, between the government and its people, into the inclusive, socially stable, Seoul, particularly in its urban core areas, demonstrates boldness in shifting share experiences, and progress together as a and highly innovative city found today. As shown in Seoul’s successful and away from car-oriented transportation to people-centric spaces, a challenge global community.” impactful high quality projects to repurpose urban infrastructure, the city has that many cities are struggling with today. Seoul recognises that the tran- proven itself as an excellent example where leadership, commitment to citizen sition from private cars to mass transit is not an overnight task and tackles – Dr Cheong Koon Hean this through a comprehensive set of measures and the use of big data, to Nominating Committee member engagement, data-supported problem-solving decisions, and creative designs (2010 – present) can transform the built environment, add vibrancy and improve quality of life. make public transport as seamless and convenient as possible. Most notably, through the reclamation of public spaces for people from cars, such as the 004 Like many other cities that experienced a very fast pace of urbanisation, Seoul removal of an elevated highway to restore the former stream at Cheonggye- 005 found itself confronting many urban challenges at its peak. Following the city’s cheon, the pedestrianisation of Yonsei-ro, and the conversion of the Seoul democratisation in the 1990s, the government faced increasing resistance Station Overpass into Seoullo 7017 – a 1 kilometre-long lushly planted elevat- The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize is a biennial international from a citizenry which had been largely left out of development decisions in ed walkway with pockets of activities along the way, the city sends a strong signal that the future of the city is one where people come first, not cars. award that honours outstanding achievements and contributions the past, which could have brought the city’s developments to a screeching halt. Moreover, Seoul was burdened at that time with the task of providing to the creation of liveable, vibrant and sustainable urban commu- for a burgeoning car-based society, which in turn led to other issues such as As megacities continue to mature and age, deterioration of its urban infra- nities around the world. The Prize is awarded to cities and recog- environmental degradation. structure is inevitable. Seoul is highly innovative in its approach to rejuvenate nises their key leaders and organisations for displaying foresight, its modern heritage and is constantly seeking creative ways to inject vibrancy good governance and innovation in tackling the many urban chal- The city recognised that its relentless pursuit of economic success over a rel- and a breath of fresh air into its urban environment, which the city termed as lenges faced, to bring about social, economic and environmental atively short period of time was at the expense of quality of life, which could “development without demolition”. The projects Makercity Sewoon – a reha- bilitation of seven commercial superblocks built in the 1970s through the benefits in a holistic way to their communities. make the city lose its appeal quickly. Seoul overcame this through its election of successive visionary leaders in the 2000s who demonstrated strong political sensitive insertion of new interventions and uses, and Mapo Culture will to take on these challenges, and displayed foresight to implement a series Depot – a conversion of disused oil tanks into a cultural venue and To facilitate the sharing of best practices in urban solutions that of catalytic projects – such as Dongdaemun Area Regeneration to shift Seoul’s public space, offer new perspectives in repurposing infrastructure are easily replicable across cities, the Prize will place an emphasis focus from traditional manufacturing to design – that would bring about benefits while preserving collective memories of the people. on practical and cost effective solutions and ideas, for the benefit for the entire city. The city leaders understood that proper communication under of cities around the world. Through this prize, Singapore hopes the new circumstances was the way forward to achieve buy-in from both the As cities become larger and more difficult to manage, achieving so- cial sustainability may be a much bigger challenge than extending to promote exemplary thought-leadership and exchange of ideas people and stakeholders. Through rigorous engagement and negotiation with conflicting parties representing various interests including traffic disturbance, economic and environmental sustainability. Should Seoul not have among cities, so as to spur further innovation in the area of sus- business losses, and historic restoration, the city formulated a set of conflict taken the bold and unusual step to make its citizens the creators of tainable urban development. management strategies, which eventually led to a dedicated team of negoti- their own city plan, it could have further aggravated the already built- ators within the Seoul Metropolitan Government today and became the city’s up tensions between the people and the government, and orchestrat- The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate will be presented “modus operandi” in urban development projects. These strategies help the city ed its own decline. By turning the people into active participants of with an award certificate, a gold medallion and a cash prize of achieve impactful and effective results, and in turn win over even the most the city’s development, Seoul demonstrated that a truly bottom-up city is possible, where the citizens own their shared city. S$300,000, sponsored by keppel corporation. reluctant citizens over time, and align their aspirations with the city’s vision. WELCOME MESSAGE Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon We shape the city, and the city shapes us I am delighted and honored to be able to receive the Lee Kuan Yew When I go for a run, I usually go to the Namsan Mountain, which is located at Also, we are making the shift from a car-centered city to a pedestrian-centered World City Prize, on behalf of the 10 million citizens of Seoul. The the very center of Seoul. And at the top of the mountain, I take a break, look city. And what made this shift towards a metapolis, which prioritizes relation- 006 citizens are the true heroes, and they deserve to be recognized. down at the city, and think to myself, “Seoul is so blessed.” Seoul has so many ships and sustainability over development and expansion, was the trials and 007 beautiful mountains, both big and small, and it has the beautiful Hangang Riv- errors of the past and the deep reflection of past mistakes. er flowing through the middle of the city. Probably, there is no city in the world The true owners of Seoul are the citizens, and they are learning, that is quite like Seoul. Certainly, there is no city in the world with a population Seoul is changing. The meaning of living in Seoul is changing. In my new year’s working, and pursuing their dreams in the city. The remarkable of more than 10 million that is quite like Seoul. Seoul doesn’t need a landmark speech, I spoke about how we should encourage social companionship among growth of Seoul of the past decades can be attributed to the citi- building to make it special. the citizens, as the citizens are increasingly feeling as if they have to fend for zens. And the side effects of the rapid development are also being themselves with nothing and nobody to rely on. Last year, in an apartment experienced and overcome by the citizens as well.