Suwon Holds Forum to Design Sustainable Future with Urban and Rural Areas Together

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-seong] A forum for urban and rural areas to design a sustainable future together will be held.

Suwon Metropolitan City will hold the 'Urban-Rural Mutual Cooperation Policy Forum to Address Local Decline' at 4 p.m. on the 19th at the first floor of Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center.

Co-hosted by Suwon City, the Korea Mayors, Governors & County Heads Council, the Population Decline Region Mayors, Governors & County Heads Council, and Bonghwa County, and co-organized by the Korean Society of Local Government Studies, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, Council of Metropolitan Area Research Institutes, and Suwon Research Institute, the policy forum will be held as an official conference program of the '2025 Korea Local Era Expo' co-hosted by the Local Era Committee, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, and Ulsan Metropolitan City.

The forum will begin with opening remarks by Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun, followed by keynote presentations and panel discussions.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun has actively promoted 'urban-rural solidarity-based policies' that share urban resources with local areas. The 'Cheongryangsan Suwon Camping Ground' is evaluated as a representative urban-rural mutual cooperation model that combines urban leisure demand with rural regional economy. Mayor Lee Jae-jun has stated that "Korea's sustainability is secured when cities share responsibility and rural areas gain opportunities."

The forum will address legal and institutional foundations to enable cities and rural areas to continue cooperating, going beyond simple exchanges between urban and rural areas.

Lee Cha-hee, Associate Research Fellow at Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, will present on 'Current Status, Issues, and Prospects of Local Decline'; Kim Do-young, Policy Director of Suwon City, will present on 'Urban-Rural Living Infrastructure Mutual Cooperation: Cases of Suwon and Bonghwa'; and Oh Hyung-eun, Representative of the Regional Revitalization Center, will present on 'Institutionalization Plans for Urban-Rural Mutual Cooperation to Address Local Decline.'

The presentations will introduce concrete implementation measures for institutionalizing urban-rural mutual cooperation, including △enactment of the 'Urban-Rural Mutual Cooperation Promotion Act' (provisional name) △establishment of an urban-rural mutual cooperation fund △establishment of a 'urban-rural mutual cooperation account' within the Local Decline Response Fund.

The panel discussion, moderated by Lee Hyang-soo, Chairman of the Korean Society of Local Government Studies, will feature Park Jung-keun, Director of the Balanced Development System Division at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety; Jo Pan-gi, Deputy CEO at Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements; Lee Yun-kyung, Director of Content Research Division at Korea Culture and Tourism Institute; Lee Sang-beom, Policy Director of the Korea Mayors, Governors & County Heads Council; and Oh Myung-keun, Head of Research Division at Cheongju Research Institute.

The discussion will address urban-rural mutual cooperation policy dissemination strategy, institutional support measures, and government-local cooperation framework building, among other topics.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun stated, "Local decline is not merely a rural issue but a structural challenge threatening urban sustainability and national balanced development," emphasizing that "we must now shift from central support alone to a structure of mutual cooperation among local areas."

He added, "I hope this forum becomes a turning point in recognizing local decline not as a problem of a specific region but as a core issue of national sustainability and balanced development, and in advancing the relationship between cities and rural areas from competition to cooperation."