Installation of Symbolic Sculptures... Innovative Designs Bring Vitality to the City
Creation of Waterfront Spaces Utilizing Nightscapes... Offering Beautiful Night Views
Gumi City in North Gyeongsang Province is transforming the city’s image by introducing innovative public designs and unique local content, coloring various parts of the city with its own distinctive style and receiving positive responses from citizens.
Large new sculptures at key city gateways are attracting visitors’ attention, while the creation of waterfront spaces utilizing nighttime scenery and the expansion of unique tourism and sports infrastructure are helping Gumi shed its gray city image and evolve into a dynamic and attractive city.
▲ Adding Vibrancy to the City with Innovative Design
Gumi City successfully hosted the Gyeongbuk Provincial Sports Festival for the first time in 12 years and achieved overall victory for the first time in six years. In preparation for the event, the city upgraded its landscape by installing large-scale sculptures at major city gateways.
At the entrance ramp of Gumi IC, a large ‘WELCOME GUMI’ sculpture welcomes visitors. In the plaza in front of the Citizens’ Stadium, the ‘Fist of Victory’ symbolizes the passion and effort of the athletes, while a massive 67-meter-wide three-dimensional sculpture at the front of the stadium draws even more attention. A dynamic track and field sculpture was also installed at the roundabout in front of the stadium. Each sculpture is equipped with landscape lighting, allowing for beautiful nighttime views.
In the future, large sculptures featuring media content and a ‘Media Art Wall’?something typically seen only in Seoul?will be added at major locations to provide citizens with high-quality video content. The city plans to complete an urban landscape befitting Gumi’s status as a global sports city, not just a national one.
▲ Utilizing Nighttime Scenery to Gift Beautiful Night Views
Recently, the city has been gifting citizens beautiful night views by creating waterfront spaces and urban alley gardens that blend nature, light, and illumination.
At Jisan Saetgang Ecological Park, 250 landscape lights were installed on cherry trees along the trail, and unique nighttime lighting such as dandelion, crescent moon, and reed lights have made it a renowned spot for enjoying night scenery.
On the Bisan Ferry Road, which opened last February, 165 handrail bar lights and 43 security lights were installed, making it a popular nighttime walking course for citizens who can stroll under dazzling lights even after dark.
In the Geumocheon area of Wonpyeong-dong, retaining wall landscape lights that blend with the silhouette of the wall and tree-penetrating lights on cherry trees create a fantastic atmosphere, offering a spectacular sight for visitors. The city plans to further enhance nighttime brightness and install specialized lighting using media at key locations to provide even more attractions.
On Geumridan-gil (Gaksan Village) alleys and at the Culture Plaza, six photo zones, designer street lamps, and logo lighting effects that change by time of day have improved the street landscape. Local residents have spontaneously formed a gardening team, planting roses and flowers along alley walls and vacant lots to create lively and fragrant village paths.
On Sanho Bridge, specialized lighting has been installed to highlight its unique rear section, and 3 billion KRW will be invested in Nakdonggang Sports Park to install sculptures and media art utilizing digital technology.
▲ A City You Want to Stay In: Expanding Stay-Type Tourism Infrastructure
As romantic tourism infrastructure increases in Gumi, once a gray industrial city, it is transforming into a city where people want to stay longer.
The Romantic Night Market, which opened last April at Saemaeul Central Market in Gumi’s old downtown, drew a crowd of 30,000 on its opening day, making a huge splash. With differentiated content and unique menus, it has been praised for its popularity and is expected to signal the revitalization of traditional markets and the old downtown.
Jisan Saetgang Ecological Park, newly recognized as a healing space in the city, is gaining popularity for barefoot walking, beautiful night views, and its unmanned cafe Goni Bugs. During the cherry blossom season in March alone, 60,000 visitors came, and not only Gumi citizens but also people from nearby areas continue to visit.
Geumridan-gil, Gumi’s representative youth street, is being developed into a book cafe street in collaboration with local creators, and efforts are underway to transform it into a pedestrian-friendly street through underground wiring and walkway improvements.
In addition, the city is accelerating the creation of unique cultural streets to attract the tastes and interests of the younger generation, such as a themed street based on the first Kyochon Chicken shop in Gumi, as well as Jinpyeong-dong Food Alley and Songjeong-dong Songjeong Matgil.
Mayor Kim Jangho said, “New initiatives that highlight local characteristics are receiving positive responses, and the colorless, monotonous industrial city of Gumi is changing.” He added, “We hope you will look forward to Gumi’s continued transformation and the diverse charms it will offer in the future.”
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