Every Event a Major Success: Nowon Transforms into a Cultural City Residents Can Truly Feel
‘Masters of New York’ Exhibition and Korea’s First Urban Natural Recreation Forest ‘Surak Hue’ Raise Expectations Again This Year
Will ‘Gwangwoon University Station Area’ and ‘Changdong Vehicle Depot’ Developments Complete the ‘Work-Residence-Leisure’ Integrated City?
Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) was vibrant throughout last year with various events and festivals.
Following the first term of Mayor Oh Seung-rok during the 7th local government administration, themed ‘Healing City Nowon in Nature and Culture,’ the 8th administration has continued to emphasize ‘culture’ with the theme ‘Nowon, a Cultural City to Look Forward to Tomorrow.’
Mayor Oh explains the reason for emphasizing culture as “Culture is the universal welfare for all residents.” Beyond simply addressing the regional limitations and residents’ thirst for cultural and artistic infrastructure, the goal is to enrich the lives of residents in Nowon, where ‘culture is everyday life.’
This refers to culture as both the city’s brand and a life condition that all residents can equally enjoy.
If the public sector does not take the initiative to hold cultural festivals, only some residents who can afford expensive tickets will be able to experience the excitement of high-quality performances and exhibitions. Also, if the public sector does not plan events in local landmarks and bustling streets, people would have to go to places like the Seoul Arts Center to enjoy culture and arts, or to Gangnam or downtown to experience youth culture.
From large-scale festivals to district-specific events, from high-quality exhibitions to open galleries encountered naturally on walking trails, Nowon is transforming into a culturally rich area in every corner.
Seamless ‘Cultural Welfare’ in Every Neighborhood and Season
When talking about ‘Cultural City’ Nowon, representative festivals cannot be overlooked. In the past, the district had annual repetitive festival-type projects like other autonomous districts. However, with Mayor Oh’s continuous interest and the expertise of the Nowon Cultural Foundation established in 2020, the festivals were newly reorganized.
As a result, the framework of ‘5 Major Festivals & 3 Major Concerts’ was established, finally equipping the city with a system befitting the title of a cultural city.
The 5 major festivals are the spring ‘Bulgamsan Azalea Festival,’ ‘Gyeongchun Line Gongneung Forest Trail Coffee Festival,’ ‘Nowon Craft Beer Festival,’ and the autumn ‘Dancing Nowon’ and ‘Nowon Moonlight Walk.’
The 3 major concerts are the ‘Danghyeoncheon Cherry Blossom Concert,’ ‘Suraksan Sunset Concert,’ and ‘Gyeongchun Line Autumn Concert.’
The events hosted by Nowon-gu are characterized by ‘reflecting local characteristics,’ ‘being open to everyone,’ and above all, ‘being enjoyable’ with high-quality content.
In the area where a pretty caf? street naturally formed after the creation of the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail, the ‘Coffee Festival’ is held to promote the local charm and simultaneously rapidly establish the area as a leader in coffee culture. The ‘Craft Beer Festival,’ utilizing assets such as Korea’s first-generation craft beer breweries active in the region and a craft beer cooperative involving residents, has become one of the top festivals among similar beer festivals nationwide.
The ‘Coffee Festival’ and ‘Beer Festival’ each attracted about 43,000 and 80,000 visitors respectively, achieving the rare feat of revitalizing the local economy, which is seldom seen in Seoul’s district festivals.
While the number of participants is impressive, Mayor Oh particularly focused on the visits of the ‘younger generation’ and the ‘local neighborhood opinion’ of residents where the festivals were held.
Youth participation in various events and policies organized by local governments has generally been low, making it a chronic problem that youth are often excluded when planning local government projects. However, it was encouraging that from the planning stage, youth participation, preferences, trends, and perspectives were successfully incorporated to bring young people closer to the community through festivals. The ‘festival with young sensibility’ combined with the dynamism of the autumn ‘Dancing Nowon’ is credited with turning the attention of young people who used to leave for Hongdae or Gangnam on weekends back to the local area.
Residents who might have experienced inconvenience due to the large crowds on festival weekends surprisingly welcomed the festivals with ‘curiosity’ rather than discomfort.
Reactions such as “It’s unfamiliar but pleasant to see so many outsiders flocking to our neighborhood, and it seems the neighborhood’s image is changing” symbolize how festivals are transforming the city and how the cultural city strategy is being integrated into residents’ lives.
Along with this, carefully developed healing spots also maximized their appeal through festivals and received favorable reviews.
Bulgamsan Healing Town, where over 100,000 azaleas bloom, Danghyeoncheon that changes its scenery with the seasons along the walking trail, and sunsets viewed from Suraksan have transformed from ‘hidden gems known only to a few’ into ‘popular spots for everyone’ through word of mouth and visitors who experienced the festivals.
Residents’ Attention Focused on 2025, Opening a New Horizon for Cultural City Nowon
After enjoying high-quality cultural events in 2024, residents’ attention is turning to 2025. With the belief that ‘Nowon-gu’s festivals are different from the usual government-run events,’ the big question is what strategies can meet the heightened expectations.
First, maintaining existing festivals and event projects as they are was a major challenge. Due to prolonged economic downturn and nationwide tax revenue declines, most local governments implemented stringent expenditure restructuring in 2025. Nowon-gu, with its challenging financial conditions, was no exception, but Mayor Oh’s strong conviction preserved the festival projects without giving them up. Even without postponing cultural projects due to budget shortages, the accumulated know-how allows for enhancing the quality and completeness of these events, showing confidence and determination.
Among the most notable events in 2025 is the reopening of the newly renovated ‘Nowon Cultural and Arts Center.’ Since its opening in 2004, the center has functioned as a professional arts venue representing northeastern Seoul by presenting high-quality planned performances. It has now undergone a full remodeling and reopened.
The remodeling significantly improved the quality of performances by providing a comfortable viewing environment and the latest facilities. Additionally, the previously insufficient exhibition space was upgraded to the ‘Nowon Art Museum,’ meeting the standards for registration as a public art museum.
Soprano Jo Sumi, who performed at the center’s inaugural concert 20 years ago, will return to Nowon to hold a New Year’s concert celebrating the development of Cultural City Nowon and the reopening of the center.
Also exciting residents is the exhibition ‘Masters of New York,’ showcasing representative works of American Abstract Expressionism, including Jackson Pollock, which has never been seen before in Korea.
The soprano Jo Sumi invited New Year’s concert will be held on the 16th, and the ‘Masters of New York’ exhibition has been ongoing since the 10th and will continue until July 12.
Having succeeded repeatedly in planning successful cultural content, the district is now significantly strengthening infrastructure to enjoy culture regularly. The ‘Junggye Cultural Health Center,’ newly constructed using vacant land next to the Cultural and Arts Center, will begin construction this year and is expected to become a hub space for revitalizing everyday culture. Plans are also underway to enhance cultural facilities in Wolgye-dong, which will undergo a dramatic transformation through the Gwangwoon University Station area development.
High-Quality Leisure Facility! Korea’s First Urban Natural Recreation Forest ‘Surak Hue’
As healing towns where healthy leisure can be enjoyed in nature have been established in each district of Nowon, a facility that will enhance their completeness is also attracting attention in 2025.
This is Korea’s first urban natural recreation forest, ‘Surak Hue.’ Although many recreation forests have been created nationwide and demand is increasing, there has never been a recreation forest available within Seoul until now.
Located in Dongmakgol, Suraksan, ‘Surak Hue’ will offer a perfect day experience in nature within Seoul, featuring 18 buildings with 25 rooms, a visitor center, restaurant, caf?, bonfire zone, and barrier-free forest trails. The highlight will be a 14-meter-high treehouse, designed in an eco-friendly way that preserves the forest and trees.
With the consecutive development of Bulgamsan Healing Town in Junggye-dong, Hwarangdae Railroad Park in Gongneung-dong, and Choansan Healing Town in Wolgye-dong, and accelerating the establishment of waterfront vitality hubs based on abundant river resources, the district is transforming its four mountains and four rivers into leisure meccas accessible to everyone.
Surak Hue is focusing on finishing construction and plans to begin trial operations in April, followed by official operations starting in May.
Gwangwoon University Station Area Development in Wolgye-dong: A Dramatic Transformation, and Changdong Vehicle Depot Development: A Leap into the Next 100 Years!
The district’s cultural city strategy does not end with improving current life but is part of a future-oriented strategy. Nowon, which has been a ‘bed town’ for nearly 40 years, envisions becoming a future city representing northeastern Seoul, with culture embedded in this vision.
The future urban life the district envisions is a ‘Work-Residence-Leisure’ integration. Moving away from a lifestyle where people only sleep in the area, work downtown during the day, and spend weekends in the suburbs, the goal is to enable residents to enjoy future-oriented economic functions, high-quality housing, and sophisticated cultural and leisure activities all within their living area.
The two representative projects embodying Work-Residence-Leisure Nowon are the ‘Gwangwoon University Station Area Development’ and the ‘Changdong Vehicle Depot S-DBC Development.’
The Gwangwoon University Station Area Development is leading the way. On a 156,581㎡ site near Gwangwoon University Station, a new economic hub integrating office, commercial, and residential facilities will be developed. About 3,000 newly built apartments, combined with nearby reconstruction complexes, will create a mini new town of approximately 10,000 households. Additionally, a 5-star hotel, MICE functions, and the first headquarters of a major corporation in the northeastern area (HDC Hyundai Development Company) will be established, transforming the area into a commercial and economic center.
‘Cultural’ spaces are indispensable here. The Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail will be extended, and cultural facilities will be built utilizing the nearby Choansan and Jungnangcheon infrastructure.
Currently, an IMAX cinema and library are planned, and recently, a visit to Japan’s complex development cases was made to add a cultural platform centered around a plaza.
After residential land construction began last year, public and mixed-use land construction also started. Upon completion in 2028, it will present a new lifestyle integrating work, residence, and leisure, leading the dramatic transformation of Wolgye-dong.
Another megaton-scale development project, the Changdong Vehicle Depot, is also progressing smoothly. Since the relocation of the Changdong Vehicle Depot to Namyangju was confirmed, the development of the approximately 250,000㎡ site has become crucial for Nowon’s 100-year future.
The district has focused on the ‘bio industry’ as a future-oriented cutting-edge industrial base here and has been planning strategies early on. The development direction was confirmed as S-DBC (Seoul Digital Bio City) in the ‘Gangbuk Renaissance Era’ plan announced by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon last year, gaining momentum.
Especially, Seoul City is accelerating efforts by offering unprecedented support, including applying ‘White Site’ status and building a ‘Seoul-type Lab Central’ to attract excellent companies. The district is also concentrating administrative capabilities by establishing dedicated organizations and formulating strategies to promote organic collaboration among industry, academia, research, and hospitals. Ultimately, the goal is to attract global big pharma companies’ Korean headquarters and complete a high-quality anchor facility for Korea’s bio industry.
Based on assets such as nature, flowers and gardens, and culture, the district is preparing one pillar of the future Work-Residence-Leisure city ahead of time, making its next moves highly anticipated.
Nowon-gu Public Relations Team’s Outstanding Capability!
With such excellent content, Nowon-gu is developing day by day. However, if this information is not properly promoted, it cannot shine.
Nowon-gu’s public relations have been advanced enough to be benchmarked by other autonomous districts since the 4th local government administration.
The fact that former public relations chiefs have been promoted to grade 4 (director) positions shows the strength of Nowon-gu’s public relations capabilities.
In particular, former Public Relations Chief Jang Joo-hyun, who served as head of the press team for 6 years and public relations chief for 2 years and 6 months, moved to the Reconstruction Project Division Chief position on July 1 last year.
Following this, veteran Park Hyung-soon, Media Public Relations Officer, took over, and currently, Team Leader Jung Yoon-kyung, who has been the longest-serving press team leader among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts for 4 years, along with reporters Moon Seong-su, Na Pureun, and Kim Sun-kyung, support public relations work tirelessly, even during evenings and weekends.
The brilliance of Oh Seung-rok’s Nowon-gu administration is the result of these efforts.
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