A group of Nagasaki Prefectural University students and professors visited Yuseong-gu for the ‘Asia New Walk Unconference’ in the Yuseong Hot Springs District and Eoeun-dong Annyeong Center area. On the 6th, Daejeon Yuseong-gu (Mayor Jeong Yong-rae) held a meeting to welcome the Japanese delegation.
This visit was part of the global geo-industry-academic program planned by Chungnam National University (Department of Smart Architectural Engineering) and Nagasaki Prefectural University (Department of Public Policy) to solve urban problems. Mayor Jeong Yong-rae said that he hopes that young people from the two cities of Korea and Japan will exchange creative ideas on solving urban problems.
At the NewWork Unconference, a Korea-Japan international forum, opinions were expressed that “ in order to overcome regional extinction, regions must be viewed and defined from a new perspective. When regions are newly defined, the actions and values of people living in the region can also be newly defined.” NewWork is a concept of jobs that local people decide for themselves, not others. Professor Cha Sang-ryong of Nagasaki Prefectural University, who gave the forum presentation, defined NewWork as “defining the land you stand on yourself and creating work to create your daily life, and multiplying the identity of the land with your own identity.”
In the following presentation, CEO Jeong Su-gyeong of the ‘Joyful City Research Institute’ said, “I call myself a local nerd, or a downtown nerd. When interviewing at our company, we ask what kind of nerds you are. Immersing yourself in one thing and finding joy is an important value for us. The answer to NewWork is similar. Enjoying and immersing yourself in one field creates another ‘super individual’ in the region.”
CEO Lee Tae-ho of Wingwing, a management company that hosted this international forum, said that the process of solving problems by cooperating with each other in the neighborhood can be seen as a NewWork. “I call myself a neighborhood planner. This event is being held in a space created with consideration for urban regeneration. The T-shirt I am wearing was made by a local workshop. The poster for today’s event was also made by a local designer. I feel that this event is not a one-time event, but that life is being reborn in the neighborhood,” he said.
Professor Kim Gyu-yong of Chungnam National University’s Department of Architecture, who sponsored the event, said, “We need to meet and interact across borders which is how local businesses can create trends. This NewWork Unconference is a regional innovation model that doesn’t even exist in Seoul. The alley forum will connect Eun-dong, Sasebo, Nagasaki, and Yuseong, and it will become a local NewWork that will revitalize the hot spring district.”
