Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City to Air Special Documentary “City + Design,” Highlighting the Vision for Busan as the World Design Capital 2028

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□ Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that, following Busan’s selection as the World Design Capital 2028, it has produced and will air a documentary that provides an in-depth look at the relationship between cities and design, titled Special Documentary: World Design Capital 2028 Busan—City + Design.
○ Centering on the process of redefining urban challenges and seeking solutions through design, the documentary will convey—clearly yet in depth—how design can enhance a city’s sustainability and competitiveness.
○ The program is produced in a documentary format (50 minutes). It will begin with a local broadcast on KBS1TV at 7:40 p.m. on December 26, 2025, followed by a nationwide broadcast on KBS1TV at 1:10 p.m. on February 7, 2026.
※ Broadcast scheduling may change depending on KBS circumstances.

□ The documentary examines urban problems such as haphazard development, traffic congestion, and weakened communities resulting from city planning focused solely on function and efficiency. It also explores solutions to how Busan—having grown amid rapid population increases following the Korean War—can address the challenges it currently faces, including super-aging, population outflow, and the hollowing out of local communities, through design thinking.

□ Starting from the fundamental question, “How can design change a city?”, the program presents design not as a simple aesthetic element, but as a creative approach to problem-solving and a strategic tool that drives urban innovation. It also highlights the role of design as a key force in restoring a city’s identity and improving residents’ quality of life.
○ Key content includes: ▲outcomes of participatory space design illustrated through the regeneration case of Domoheon ▲design potential hidden across Busan, including Space Wonji ▲leading overseas examples of urban design from cities such as Taipei, Taiwan, and Helsinki, Finland.
○ In particular, by highlighting globally recognized urban innovation cases such as the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei and the Oodi Library in Helsinki, the documentary takes an in-depth look at how design policies grounded in civic participation and inclusion can tangibly improve a city’s competitiveness and residents’ quality of life.

□ The documentary also reviews the achievements of Seoul, selected as the World Design Capital in 2010, along with the city branding effects formed around the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). Based on this analysis, it comprehensively examines the direction, tasks, and feasible future vision that Busan—as the World Design Capital 2028—must pursue to leap forward as a global design city.

□ Through civic-participatory design cases—including the activities of the Busan Citizen Empathy Design Group, as well as Domoheon, F1963, and Bongsan Village in Yeongdo—the documentary will spotlight Busan’s potential and its process of transformation into an inclusive global design city that grows together with its citizens, grounded in the city’s historical, environmental, and cultural context.

□ Busan Metropolitan City expects that this special documentary will deepen public understanding of “urban design,” which may still be unfamiliar to many, and help share the message that Busan’s selection as the World Design Capital 2028 is not merely a title, but a starting point for Busan’s transformation into a global design city—thereby broadening public consensus on its significance and the direction of the city’s initiatives.

□ Koh Mi-jin, Director General of the Future Design Headquarters of Busan Metropolitan City, said, “This documentary is content that shows how design is a critical key to solving urban problems and transforming citizens’ lives,” adding, “I hope it will be a warm time for the whole family to watch together at year’s end and envision Busan’s future.”

□ She continued, “We will steadily realize Busan’s leap forward into a global design city that grows together with citizens and communicates with the world, so that Busan’s selection as the World Design Capital 2028 can become another meaningful gift for you.”