Hanam City Council Member Research Group "Let's Brand Hanam as Truly Hanam"

‘Urban Brand and Tourism Content Development Research Group’ Holds Mid-term Report Meeting for Research Project
Analysis of Hanam City Urban Brand and Marketing Status and Cases... Study of Related Domestic and International Cases
Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute Survey, Hanam City Urban Brand Ranked 33rd - Basic Local Government Brand Ranked 44th

The 'Urban Brand and Tourism Content Development Research Group,' a council member research group of Hanam City Council, held an interim report meeting on the research project 'Establishment of Hanam City Urban Brand and Marketing Strategy' on the 7th and is taking a commemorative photo.

The Hanam City Council in Gyeonggi Province (Chairman Geum Gwang-yeon) is accelerating research on urban branding to create "Hanam, a city where people want to live and stay."

The council's research group, the "Urban Brand and Tourism Content Development Research Association" (led by Lim Hee-do), held a mid-term report meeting on the "Establishment of Hanam City Urban Brand and Marketing Strategy" research project on the 7th in the small conference room on the first floor of the council building.

At the meeting, about 20 people attended, including Representative Lim Hee-do, Vice Representative Park Seon-mi, Chairman Geum Gwang-yeon, other members of the research group, the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Kyonggi University conducting the project, and related officials from Hanam City's Public Relations Office, Cultural Policy Division, and Urban Strategy Division. They shared the progress made so far and engaged in in-depth discussions.

Professor Kang Hyun-chul of the Department of Architectural Safety Engineering at Kyonggi University stated, "In Korea, since the revision of the Local Autonomy Act in 1995, local governments have taken an interest in urban branding and started using it as a means of urban marketing to promote their cities." He added, "Hanam City enacted an ordinance in July 2021 to enhance urban brand value, specifying not only the basic plan and implementation plan but also concrete reflection items in the plan formulation."

During the meeting, the research team presented interim results of their studies conducted so far, including △ the concept and condition analysis of urban branding △ the current status and case analysis of Hanam City's urban brand △ the basic direction and implementation tasks of Hanam City's urban brand, and discussed the future research schedule.

According to the research team, in the 2024 August survey on South Korea's urban brand rankings conducted by the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, Hanam City ranked 33rd overall and 44th among 226 basic local governments in the basic local government brand rankings.

Hanam City's Vitality Index ranks 17th among 31 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province. Among its 14 administrative districts, there is a significant regional disparity in vitality levels ranging from 1 to 7, with a notable gap between the new town and the old town areas.

Accordingly, opinions were presented emphasizing the importance of establishing a unique urban brand direction for Hanam City to lay the foundation for creating a sustainable urban identity.

Representative Lim Hee-do said, "The core keywords of urban branding are 'differentiation' and 'competitiveness.' Through this research project, we will do our best to establish Hanam City's urban brand identity by analyzing literature, Hanam's urban image, and comparing domestic and international urban competitiveness, and to develop strategies that can form a differentiated urban culture to contribute to revitalizing the local economy."

Council members Park Seon-mi and Geum Gwang-yeon stated, "We will do our best in research activities to establish an urban brand strategy for Hanam City that fits local conditions and to prepare effective policies by reflecting the various opinions presented today." They emphasized, "Through urban branding that connects the new town and old town, history and culture, and people and local communities, we will create an attractive Hanam where people gather, the local economy thrives, population inflows occur voluntarily, and these people form a healthy urban community."

Meanwhile, the research association plans to complete the study by the end of December, incorporating opinions from this mid-term report meeting, conducting field visits, and holding a final report meeting.