Interview with the Mayor of Gunsan, Mr Moon Dong-Shin

Interview Mr Moon Dong-Shin Mayor of Gunsan, Republic of Korea What are the main areas of action of the local government of Gunsan City?

Gunsan City has been carrying out its vision consistently in order to reach its goal of building an "international business and tourism city of half a million citizens".

Gunsan has emphasized making itself a business hub for northeast Asia and becoming a model of prosperity, harmony and dignity.

As part of this striving for prosperity, Gunsan has not ignored the importance of harmony, which, beyond being positive for citizenship coexistence, is also understood as balanced development in different areas: business, culture and the arts, tourism, welfare, and sport, which are going through dynamic changes.

Gunsan decided that its lines of action should be as follows: - Creation of a prosperous business city: Gunsan has attracted 397 businesses to its industrial complex, resulting in the total sub-division of the lots in its industrial park. In this park Gunsan fosters the growth of the motor and high-tech industries, such as aeronautics, wind energy, ship building, and the creation of plasma applications; key sectors in order for Gunsan to become a prosperous business city.

- Creation of an appealing tourist city: since opening the 33.9 km-long Saemangeum dike causeway in April 2010, the number of visitors has hit 10 million, which makes Gunsan one of the "must-see" places in Korea. Tourism will have a deep impact on local economy. In order to take advantage of it, Gunsan has a long-term strategy to create a tourist belt uniting the Saemangeum area, the Gogunsan Islands, the Eunpa Tourist Park, the old city centre, and the Geumgang River. Through this strategy Gunsan is seeking to transform itself into a year-round tourist destination. The city has set up an international tourist centre in the area between Shinshi and Yami Island. Holding concerts throughout the year also forms part of this initiative.

- Creation of a balanced city and pole of attraction for growth: Gunsan is striving to expand its urban infrastructure. Along this line the city is moving forward in the construction of the Gunjag Bridge, the access road to the Gogunsan islands, the coastal road that will connect the Gunjang industrial estate and the reconversion of the maritime dump into a recreational space with access to the sea.

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Gunsan is a city that is able to harmonise past, present and future. How has it been able to achieve this harmonisation of traditional culture and innovation?

The recently opened Contemporary History Museum offers visitors the possibility of learning about the past, present and future of the city.

Furthermore, a project has been set up to build a cultural and artistic belt that will involve the renovation of historical, emblematic buildings in the city, such as the Joseon Bank, the 18 Nagasaki Japanese bank, the old Gunsan customs building and the Hirotsu House (built during the Japanese colonial period), as well as pedestrian paths and youth cultural centres. This project will allow the city to create its own cultural brand and transform the city into a history class on the national consciousness of resistance to Japanese imperialism.

A cultural-tourist route will be created to link the different areas with historical vestiges of the Baekje dynasty: the historical centre of the city, Saemangeum, the Gogunsan islands and the Geumgang River.

In order to expand the infrastructure for culture and art, the city is building a new arts centre with a large auditorium, exhibition rooms, galleries and an international conference hall. Completion is slated for 2012. What is going to be provided by this new space is now found at the Gunsan cultural centre, which has places for citizens to carry out their artistic projects.

Gunsan is a dynamic city with its eye on the future while being able at the same time to appreciate its traditional culture; a city where high tech industry and tradition coexist.

In the last few years, the number of people who choose this city to live or work in has increased. What initiatives are being carried out to achieve a cohesive citizenry, making the slogan “the Dream Hub” possible?

In order to build a harmonious city that can make all the social classes cohere, Gunsan spares no effort in providing equal education opportunities to students, who are our hope for the future.

In this sense and in its endeavour to become an educating city, Gunsan has expanded its education infrastructure, has built children’s and community libraries and lifelong education centres. Moreover, free meals are offered to students in the rural areas and to low-income families.

On the other hand, various festivals and events have been held to publicise Gunsan’s commitment for lifelong learning, such as the 2nd Festival of Lifelong Learning, the 3rd Conference of Literacy Teachers of Korea and the 5th Festival of Cities.

Furthermore, there are different projects and programmes whose goal is to expand and diversify learning opportunities. Amongst these of special note is the project entitled “Lifelong Learning Communities”, the on-line learning system – which facilitates study at any time or place through Internet education programmes – or the Saemangeum Academy which, through monthly lectures by experts in different fields offers all the citizens the possibility of strengthening their knowledge.

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Saemangeum Academy

Another initiative of note is the literacy programmed called “Lifelong Learning Schools” addressed to people without schooling and inhabitants in the city’s rural areas. The final goal of the programme is to promote cohesion and social integration and reduce inequalities in terms of class and geographical neighbourhoods.

Gunsan is also committed to the welfare of the population. To do so it has facilities such as the elderly centre, the war veterans centre and the women’s learning centre.

Moreover, it has many social welfare and health programmes; food support and education for low-income families, expansion and support for public day-care centres, an allergy prevention programme, and mobile clinics providing service to the islands that lack health facilities.

These efforts to improve welfare services and offer equality of education opportunities seek to minimise existing inequalities and boost the creation of community bonds.

While having achieved stiff economic growth, Gunsan has also been able to integrate nature into the city. How was this balance achieved?

What environmental policies and initiatives are being promoted by the local government?

Gunsan City is striving to create job opportunities and economic growth by attracting high-tech industries, but it is also not skimping on its effort to bequeath upon the next generation a greener industrial complex by reducing CO2 emissions and developing green industry.

About 700.000 migratory birds visit every year Gunsan

In order to create green spaces in its urban area, Gunsan has been rolling out its “urban forest” and “cypress forest” projects. On the other hand, different programs and activities are contributing to improving air quality. A sign of this is the support for replacing water heaters with others having lower nitrogen oxide emissions, as well as the start up of the carbon emissions control system and activities fostering a clean environment.

Moreover, Gunsan manages 960 waste collection points and provides technical support for environmental pollution prevention. We should also point out our sewer maintenance project and the installation of a public waste water treatment plan for the Saemangeum river bed.

These initiatives are examples of the efforts made by Gunsan to become a leading city committed to a lifestyle that respects the environment.

Another priority of your government has been to create an administration closer to its citizens that can listen and respond to their needs. What changes have been introduced into the administration and what communication mechanisms have been developed?

Have municipal workers been trained to offer this new type of service?

In order to achieve a responsible administration, self-evaluations in the main areas of activity are carried out every quarter. A citizen participatory budgeting system has been set up along with a public information system, and a local rendering of accounts system, etc. These services have been created to make our administration more effective and open to the citizenry.

On the other hand, Gunsan is building new community centres in the Wolmyeong-dong, Samhak-dong and Heungnam-dong neighbourhoods and holds a “Citizens’ Day”, an event through which it fosters coexistence and harmony.

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In order to improve the satisfaction levels of our citizens regarding their demands, 120 citizen service points have been set up and a passport expedition office and night-time registration system have been created. The citizen information and service office offers a legal and tax advice service free of charge.

Furthermore, our municipal workers are trained to provide better citizen services and for them to learn about their duties as public servants. They are also being trained in organizational skills in order to improve the effectiveness of the municipal administration.

Gunsan has opted for lifelong learning. What are the main proposals and actions in this area?

First of all, expanding lifelong learning by providing successful education programmes.

At this time, 13 programmes and 5 lifelong learning centres are running, which include sex education classes, physical exercise with music, psychotherapy through art, self image classes, occupational training, as well as an advisory programme to promote autonomy for the disabled.

Secondly, promoting the training of adults without formal schooling. In this context, our “Lifelong Learning Schools” focus on literacy and offer adults a second chance to study, thus improving their quality of life and facilitating their participation in society.

In addition to literacy classes, the programme also offers art and Chinese calligraphy classes. Activities are also carried out beyond the classroom through visits to the Jinpo Museum or the Bird Gunsan’s Mayor visit to Alphabetisation Observatory. The goal of the visits is to classes provide experimental learning opportunities to the participants, who can show their progress at the annual “literacy festival”.

Nowadays, the programme has 29 teachers giving 45 classes, in which participate 691 adults attending the School two hours each day from Monday to Thursday.

Thirdly, of special note is the “Lifelong Learning Communities” project, which has led to the creation of groups that spread the word about local culture among civil society .

These communities are located in the historical centre, in the urban and rural areas and in the areas in between. As part of this project there are different activities: radio over the Internet, “community knowledge”, natural cosmetics, soap-making classes, youth leadership training and classes on craft-based Korean paper making (hanji).

What are the benefits for your city of belonging to the International Association of Educating Cities?

Joining the Association has allowed us to increase our international contacts and raise brand awareness of our city. Through the IAEC Gunsan can now share best practices and ideas with 450 cities in 32 different countries. Of special note is the Educating Cities International Documents Databank which contains experiences collected over the last 20 years.

The 2nd Meeting of Asia Pacific Network was held in Gunsan in October 2010

www.edcities.org — International Association of Educating Cities (IAEC) - edcities@bcn.cat

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