Mayor Oh Sehoon Heads to Europe to Promote Public Housing and K-Fashion

Invited as a Speaker at the 2025 World Cities Summit
Promoting Public Housing Policies and K-Fashion Exchange with Milan
Enhancing Urban Competitiveness through Major Urban Renewal and Design

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon will speak at the '2025 World Cities Summit Mayors Forum' held in Vienna, Austria. Mayor Oh also plans to meet with the Mayor of Milan, Italy, to discuss establishing a foothold for K-fashion brands to enter the European market.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 29th, Mayor Oh will embark on an eight-day, six-night business trip to Europe (Vienna, Austria and Milan, Italy) starting on the 30th. The purpose of this trip is to promote the excellence of Seoul as a city of culture and arts?including K-fashion and beauty?and to enhance Seoul's status as a design capital on the global stage. It is also aimed at globalizing his municipal philosophy of solidarity with the underprivileged.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon is delivering a congratulatory speech at the opening ceremony of the Seoul Museum of Photography held in Dobong-gu, Seoul on the 29th. 2025.5.29 Photo by Cho Yongjun

The first item on the agenda, on July 1, is to sign an exchange and cooperation memorandum of understanding with the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Vienna, the world’s first international organization dedicated to anti-corruption education. This is the first time a local government has signed an MOU with the organization, and it is seen as recognition by the international community of Seoul's pioneering anti-corruption and integrity policies. Mayor Oh will then visit the Sonnwendviertel public housing complex, where diverse generations such as youth, single-parent families, and the elderly live together, as well as the pedestrian-friendly Mariahilfer Strasse, to explore ways to innovate everyday life for citizens.

On the 2nd, Mayor Oh will share the value of solidarity with the underprivileged at elderly care facilities and residential facilities for people with disabilities. Through these site visits, Seoul plans to further develop and concretize its policies for integrated care?combining housing, care, nursing, and health?based on user-centered and nature-friendly environments.

To gain insights into Seoul’s urban transformation through innovative design and architecture, Mayor Oh will also visit Nordbahnhof, a large-scale housing complex developed on former railway land, and Danube Island Pier 22, a waterfront space. In particular, he will explore mutually complementary cooperation strategies between Vienna, which has a public housing supply history of over 100 years, and Seoul, which is working to expand public rental housing supply, improve quality, and upgrade standards to enhance residents’ quality of life.

On the 3rd, Mayor Oh will meet with Matti Bunzl, director of the Vienna Museum, to share experiences from the ongoing operation of the Seoul Museum of Art and exchange views on the renovation status of the Seosomun Main Building. The Vienna Museum is also considered a successful case, having reopened in 2023 after a four-year renovation, with its annual number of visitors increasing more than fivefold compared to before.

At the '2025 World Cities Summit Mayors Forum,' Mayor Oh will be the first speaker in the 'Housing Supply Policy' session, presenting on 'Seoul’s Rental Housing Innovations for Improving Quality of Life.' He will share Seoul’s exemplary housing policies as a global leading city with leaders from more than 60 cities worldwide. Mayor Oh will introduce innovative cases such as Seoul’s policy to expand the supply of public rental housing to alleviate the global challenge of housing cost burdens, the 'SHift' long-term lease housing program that allows residents to stay for up to 20 years at 80% of market rates, and the 'Mirinae House' program for newlyweds, which extends residency periods in line with childbirth.

In Italy, Mayor Oh will meet with Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala to discuss establishing a foothold for promising K-fashion brands to enter Europe, including cooperation in fashion and design and mutual exchange in culture and the arts. He also plans to explore strategies to elevate Seoul Fashion Week into one of the world’s top five fashion weeks. In addition, at the Lombardy Regional Government, which signed a friendship city agreement with Seoul in 2017, he will meet with Governor Attilio Fontana to reaffirm their strategic partnership for sustainable urban development. A Seoul city official stated, "We plan to visit sites of design innovation in downtown Milan to find ways to enhance the value of 'Design Seoul,' while also promoting Seoul’s role and future development strategy as the world’s design capital."