Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il Visits Paris to Benchmark 'Forum des Halles' and Other Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Choi Ki-ho] Mayor Lee Sang-il of Yongin Special City will visit Paris, France from June 6 to 12 with a city delegation of 4 members to cheer on high jumper and national representative Woo Sang-hyuk, a member of Yongin City's corporate sports club competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and to benchmark facilities related to the construction of Platform City multi-modal transit center and Bandabi Sports Center.

On the morning of June 7 (local time), the day after arriving in Paris, Mayor Lee will watch and cheer for Woo Sang-hyuk's preliminary competition at Stade De France (Stade De France), where track and field events will be held, starting at 10 a.m. local time.

After the preliminary round, Mayor Lee plans to have lunch with athlete Woo Sang-hyuk, Kim Do-kyun, coach of the Korean national vertical jump team, and others to offer encouragement.

On the morning of June 8, Mayor Lee will visit the Paris Olympic Aquatic Center to inspect the facility and cheer on national diver Kim Su-ji.

The 'Paris Aquatic Center' located in Saint-Denis north of Paris is a timber structure designed by French architectural firm Atelier and a Dutch partner. The roof is equipped with solar panels and features an advanced water system that allows 50% water reuse.

The Paris Aquatic Center consists of a 50-meter indoor swimming pool, outdoor pool, diving pool, water polo pool, spa, and fitness spaces. After the Olympics, it will be used as a public sports facility for the local community.

On the same day, Mayor Lee will visit the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the OECD to share opinions on the economic situation and urban policies of developed countries with Ambassador Choi Sang-dae, and will also discuss cooperation plans between Yongin Special City and cities in OECD member countries.

On June 9, Mayor Lee plans to visit 'Forum des Halles (Forum des halles)', Europe's largest multi-modal transit center, to tour the facility and listen to explanations from officials.

Forum des Halles is a multi-modal transit center with Europe's largest shopping mall spanning 70,000 square meters across 4 underground and 1 above-ground floors, through which 3 RER (Réseau Express Régional, Île-de-France regional express network) lines and 5 subway lines pass. It is Europe's largest multi-modal transit center with 800,000 daily users and required an investment of 1 billion euros (approximately 1.49 trillion won).

Yongin Special City is planning to build the 'Bandabi Sports Center' with international-standard swimming pools at the temporary parking lot area of Yongin Mir Stadium in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, and is constructing a multi-modal transit center at Platform City in Guseong and Bojeong-dong, Giheung-gu. City officials noted that there will be much to learn from Paris's two facilities.

If high jump athlete Woo Sang-hyuk, regarded as a world-class competitor, advances through the preliminary round, he will compete in the final at Stade de France at 7:05 p.m. (local time) on June 10.

Mayor Lee plans to cheer on and support Woo Sang-hyuk's bid for a medal at the venue alongside the city delegation.

On June 11, the sixth day of the trip, Mayor Lee will meet with athlete Woo Sang-hyuk for an encouraging breakfast and then return home.

Mayor Lee stated, "I will support the Olympic challenge of 'Smile Jumper' Woo Sang-hyuk, who always delivers positive energy to our people, while working to promote Yongin more widely to the world."

Mayor Lee also said, "The city is promoting the construction of 'Bandabi Sports Center' and the installation of multi-modal transit facilities connecting Guseong Station on GTX-A and Yongin Platform City. We aim to make it an excellent facility for citizens," and added, "We hope that the Aquatic Center, a representative example of Paris's eco-friendly architecture, and Forum des Halles, one of Paris's landmarks, will provide much inspiration for Yongin in terms of facility design and operation."