The overarching goal and the vision of Busan is “The First to the Future, Green Smart City, Busan,” alongside the city’s slogan of “Busan, Your Home for Today and Beyond”, which consists of six concrete target goals. The OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative falls in line with Busan’s ambitious goals. By joining the group of OECD Champion Mayors, the city of Busan seeks to expand its engagement within the international community.
Mayor PARK Heong-joon, the 38th and 39th Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, was born in Busan and received bachelor’s degree in sociology and PhD from Korea University.
Mayor Park actively engaged in civilian society by serving as Chairman of the Planning Committee, Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice Busan Office (1995) and Chair of Devolution Movement Busan Headquarter (1999).
From 1994 to 1999, Mayor Park served as the member of Presidential Commission on policy Planning, and a Professor of sociology at Dong-A University from 2002 to 2021.
In 2004, the Mayor was elected as the member of the 17th National Assembly of Korea (local constituency: Suyeong-gu Disctirct, Busan). Mayor Park also served as the Senior Secretary for Political Affairs for President (2009), and the 29th Secretary General of the National Assembly Secretariat of Korea (2014).
In 2021, Mayor Park was elected as the 38th Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City on the by-election. On June 2022, the Mayor was re-elected as the 39th Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City on the 8th Local Election of Korea.
Busan is presenting tailored cooperative projects to address each individual country’s challenges and promote international cooperation and coordination under the overarching theme for the 2030 Busan World Expo: “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future.”
Busan is also taking up various measures to meet the goal of a city with happy citizens. The city is expanding supply of social housing and implementing green retrofitting of aging public rental housing and promoting a culture of gender equality in public institutions. Implementing emergency welfare support projects tailored to Busan’s specific circumstances helps to eliminate welfare blind spots. The city provides emergency living expenses for vulnerable households and is revamping Busan’s basic living security policy by operating community support volunteer groups through private-public cooperation. Regarding the welfare system, Busan is providing health and medical outreach services and running “Busan Hope & Dream Centers,” offering meals to the homeless and employment consulting services. The city also aims to provide a stable life for seniors as Busan becomes a super-aged society by building and expanding community programs at senior citizen centers.
Busan is regenerating urban areas, including the renewal of old city centers and the Sasang Industrial Area in connection with the North Port redevelopment project. Rejuvenation of the urban hosing environment and small-sized houses is also a priority.
Human rights and labor rights are in focus in Busan. The city is opening human rights centers, establishing a memorial hall dedicated to the history of democracy and constructing annex buildings at Busan Democracy Park. On labor rights, the city is protecting the rights and interests of vulnerable laborers, ensuring a safer labor environment to establish a labor-respecting society.
This goal involves the following projects. First, the North Port redevelopment project is first port redevelopment project implemented in Korea, seeking mutual growth with the old city centers. UN Habitat and Busan Metropolitan City signed an MoU to build the world’s first sustainable floating city. Start-up infrastructure continues to secure infrastructure to drive innovative growth, including the establishment of complex spaces for youth start-ups and housing. Additionally, a start-up fund supports the growth of promising start-ups and creates sizable start-up funds.
Busan is creating measures to ensure transportation safety for the vulnerable and strengthening safety management of personal mobility devices. The city is also establishing special transportations methods, including on-call taxi services for the disabled and pregnant women.
Busan is also establishing preemptive carbon neutrality strategies and systems in response to climate change in order to make Busan a carbon-neutral, sustainable green city by 2050. The city is making targeted efforts to nurture eco-friendly energy sources, including hydrogen energy and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage) as new industries to create high value-added products and services for the future.