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Design Seoul: Street Design for a Better City

Dreaming of a Beautiful and Safe City

Design is everywhere. There is almost nothing in today's world for which the importance of design does not matter. Think of an example as common as cooking your dining. It is important not only to cook something delicious but also to make it with a consideration of the harmony of the colors and shapes of the ingredients, to present it on a nicely matching plate, and to arrange the plates on the table as attractively and conveniently as possible.

Designing refers to any formative activity intended to make our living more pleasant, beautiful, and convenient and thus includes planning and engineering. While design is frequently discussed as a main topic of the corporate world concerned with promoting consumerism, it is also closely integrated into people's daily lives on a broader level. We find good examples of this broader concept of design on Korean streets.

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Seoul: a World-Recognized Center of Design

In 2010, having embarked on the Design Seoul Project, the City of Seoul re-branded itself as a "city of creative design". For two years in a row in 2008 and 2009, it was named one of the cities that Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian travelers most wanted to visit. The New York Times also placed Seoul in third place on the list of cities to visit in 2010. These designations certainly reflect the growing importance of Seoul in international tourism and business, but they also attest to the greater convenience and beauty of Seoul's refreshed streets.

Through the Design Seoul Campaign, Seoul has successfully enhanced its brand and international reputation. The city's policy for promoting tourism has also facilitated the city's efforts to brand and mark itself as a center of creative urban design on the world stage.

1. Forming the Streets of "Design Seoul"

In 2007, the City of Seoul embarked on the Design Seoul Street Development Project as part of its wider Design Seoul Campaign and has since made various efforts to make the streets of Seoul more convenient and chic. The project to promote a greater harmony between public facilities, neon signs, and the streets, and enhance the safety of citizens, has become a major public endeavor that has enlisted the participation of diverse design specialists, university-affiliated design research centers, and citizens.

Through the project, the City of Seoul has improved the designs and arrangements of such ubiquitous objects as fences, road signs, ventilators for subway stations, distribution boxes, manholes, postboxes, and payphone booths in 30 or so streets, turning them into all the more pleasant streets for walking.

Integrative designs accommodating both living and local culture

The new plaza provides wider spaces for pedestrians and better view of street.

Newly designed payphone booths merge better with the surrounding environment.

Streets are made broader thanks to the expansion of the sidewalk and new features for pedestrians.

A street is made tidier thanks to new trees and the newly designed sidewalk.

Visit the website at http://sculture.seoul.go.kr/archives/8717 for more information.

2. Crime Prevention Design Project

 The City of Seoul also launched its trial Crime Prevention Design Project in 2012. The project seeks to reduce the crime rates in worn-down neighborhoods by introducing livelier and safer street and public feature designs. The project brightens and beautifies crime-infested areas to mitigate people's fears and significantly reduce the risk of crime.

The project was applied to good use in the neighborhood of Yeomni-dong, Mapo-gu, and at Gongjin Middle School in Gayang-dong, Gangseo-gu. The two areas shared in common narrow and intertwined alleyways and hundreds of old and worn-down houses clumped together. Their dark and narrow streets and alleyways even led to their designations as Zones for Reinforced Security.

The dark and dilapidated streets were painted in vivid colors so that they could look refreshed and less crime-inviting.

(Reference: http://bit.ly/16aJhvB)

The worn-down school features were replaced or had a sandbag, a rock-climbing wall, and other such features installed. These, along with the newly designed walls and floors, fostered students' healthy activities.

(Reference: http://bit.ly/11FQgs8)

Seoul will continue to improve its competitiveness and reputation based on the series of successful design projects it has completed. The city will host public contests for standard designs for public facilities and neon signs. These competitions will enable the city to apply more consistent designs throughout its landscapes, making them look more harmonious and well-planned.

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