Groundbreaking of Advanced Marine Industry R&D Center, Establishment of Complex and Cultural Arts Hub
Full-scale Promotion of Key Catalyst Projects Including Gwangju and Bucheon Economic Base-Type City Development
Conceptual Diagram of Pohang Economic Base-Type Urban Regeneration Project / Provided by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 21st that economic base-type urban regeneration projects are being actively promoted, including the groundbreaking of the 'Advanced Marine Industry R&D Center' for research and development and fostering of ICT-based advanced marine industries.
The R&D center, whose groundbreaking ceremony was held on the 17th, is a key seed project (national government-supported) of the "ICT-based Marine Industry Platform" economic base-type urban regeneration project being promoted in Pohang City. The total project cost is 19.7 billion KRW, including 12.7 billion KRW in national funding.
The economic base-type is the largest scale project among urban regeneration projects, linking the maintenance and development of national core functions (industrial complexes, ports, airports, railroads, roads, rivers, etc.) to grant new functions to cities and create employment bases.
The Pohang economic base-type urban regeneration project has been promoted in accordance with the urban regeneration activation plan established and announced in August 2019, after being selected in August 2018. It is a project to regenerate the old Pohang Port and surrounding areas (760,000㎡) into a new marine industry city where marine tourism, culture, and industrial functions are concentrated.
Aerial view of the Advanced Marine Industry R&D Center / Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The R&D center to be constructed this time will be built on a site of 9,308㎡ with a total floor area of 9,450㎡, from one basement floor to nine above-ground floors, and is scheduled to be completed in March next year.
Inside the R&D center, various convenience facilities will be housed, including marine leisure sports-related facilities, factory-type laboratories, shared meeting rooms for resident companies, co-working spaces and offices, a fitness center, and dormitory-style sleeping spaces. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to establish it as a core base for fostering new growth industries to replace the regional steel industry and restructuring the industrial structure through technology development in the advanced marine industry sector and activation of related startups.
In addition, the Ministry explained that other major projects within the Pohang economic base-type urban regeneration project are gradually becoming visible.
The marine leisure sports playground (3 billion KRW) in the Songdo Beach area completed its first phase of construction last year, and the second phase is planned to start in the first half of this year.
Also, remodeling work on the old Pohang Fisheries Cooperative frozen warehouse for the creation of a complex cultural and art experience hub (11.2 billion KRW) is scheduled to begin next month, and the port redevelopment project linked to the port redevelopment plan is expected to be actively promoted within this year.
Furthermore, the seed project of the Gwangju economic base-type (Gwangju Station Creative Culture Startup Valley), Eoullim Factory (2 billion KRW), began construction in January, and the creative industry platform 'Station G' (35 billion KRW) is planned to start construction in the first half of this year.
The Bucheon economic base-type (Bucheon Hubrex, a hub for the metropolitan creative economy) urban development project around Bucheon Sports Complex Station was approved last month with a project cost of 502.7 billion KRW. The seed project, the R&D Comprehensive Center (31.6 billion KRW), is scheduled to start construction next month, and the above-ground M?bius Plaza creation project (500 million KRW) will begin in April.
Kim Dong-ik, head of the Urban Regeneration Economy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Along with the Pohang urban regeneration project, we will work closely with local governments to thoroughly manage projects so that other economic base-type urban regeneration projects can also show visible results and proceed smoothly."
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