Joined Hands for MOU on Establishing Youth Startup Hubs
Launching a 'Win-Win Model' Connecting Urban Regeneration and Youth Entrepreneurship
Pohang City has launched an initiative for 'vacant space innovation' to connect the future of youth and the city.
In partnership with local universities, an urban regeneration project to transform abandoned spaces into new opportunity platforms is being actively promoted.
On the 11th, Pohang City signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with POSTECH in the city hall’s main conference room to promote a project that utilizes vacant buildings as youth startup hubs.
This agreement is a convergence-type urban regeneration project aimed at addressing the increasing problem of vacant houses and abandoned buildings, promoting youth entrepreneurship, and revitalizing the old downtown area.
Pohang City plans to remodel vacant houses and buildings, which have been leased free of charge, into shared offices and mixed-use residence spaces for young people.
These spaces will serve not only as startup venues but also as hubs for entrepreneurship, employment, and community activities. Through this agreement, both institutions will establish a system for information sharing and cooperation to create an urban regeneration and startup ecosystem.
According to the agreement, Pohang City will be responsible for creating spaces such as remodeling vacant buildings and providing administrative and financial support, while POSTECH will plan and operate startup support programs and support research and technology commercialization to vitalize the startup ecosystem.
It is expected that if abandoned vacant buildings are reborn as youth startup spaces through this agreement, it will reduce the initial burden on young entrepreneurs, increase the influx of people into the old downtown, and bring about tangible effects in urban regeneration, such as the recovery of local commercial districts.
Mayor Lee Kangdeok said, "This agreement is the first attempt to recycle local problems into local assets," adding, "It will become a virtuous cycle model that can simultaneously drive the regeneration of vacant buildings and youth entrepreneurship."
In addition to this project, Pohang City continues various efforts to support youth and social enterprises and improve vacant spaces, including maintenance projects that support the cost of demolishing vacant houses and the 'Win-Win Landlord-Hopeful Tenant Project,' which provides startup spaces by leasing vacant buildings free of charge.
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