Yongin City Takes a Step Forward in Building Consensus and Communication on Statutory Cultural City Designation

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Yongin City held an expert special lecture to build consensus and facilitate communication between departments regarding the designation as a statutory cultural city.

The special lecture, held on the 2nd under the theme of "Understanding Cultural Cities and the Role of Administration for Cultural Cities," was organized to share the value and vision of statutory cultural cities. Kim Young-hyun, director of the Regional Culture Promotion Agency, served as lecturer, presenting a lecture on the role of administration necessary for the sustainability and expansion of cultural cities and the importance of citizen-led governance.

Attending the special lecture were Vice Mayor Oh Hoo-seok, councilors Lee Eun-kyung, Lee Geon-han, Yu Jin-sun, and Myung Ji-sun from the city council research group "Art Guardian," councilors Kim Sang-su and Nam Hong-sook who are interested in cultural cities, Jeong Gil-bae, representative director of the Yongin Culture Foundation, the Cultural City Task Force Team, related departments, and officials from the Yongin City Research Institute, totaling approximately 40 people.

The statutory cultural city is a competitive grant project overseen by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which will designate 30 local governments by 2022 and provide up to 20 billion won in project funding over five years at a ratio of 50% national treasury and 50% local budget.

In response, the city has conducted "basic research for establishing a Yongin-style cultural city development plan" since last year and organized a Cultural City Task Force Team last month, preparing to apply for the statutory cultural city competitive grant project.

Going forward, the city plans to not only operate various programs for cooperation and communication within the organization but also continuously promote forums and discussion sessions to raise citizen awareness.

Vice Mayor Oh Hoo-seok said, "The statutory cultural city is a project in which the government provides budget support so that citizens can themselves utilize their region's cultural assets to plan and realize the city's cultural environment and create an urban brand," adding "In order to be designated as a statutory cultural city, organic cooperation and communication within the administration must be the foundation, so we will enhance our capacity through information sharing and collaboration between departments."

He continued, "We ask for the interest and participation of our citizens regarding cultural cities."