The Transformation of Pohang, the steel city
Pohang, a steel city, is seeking a transformation into a global hub city for new industries.
As it has emerged as the ‘best place for future new industries’ such as secondary batteries, biohealth, and hydrogen fuel cells, it is now playing an important role in taking a leap forward as a global powerhouse, looking forward to the next 100 years of Korea.
It was in 2014 that the inauguration of Mayor Lee Kang-deok began to materialize a blueprint for industrial innovation that made full use of Pohang’s city capabilities, cutting-edge scientific infrastructure, and human resources, including POSTECH, a world-class research-oriented university, and 3rd and 4th-generation synchrotron radiation accelerators.
It became a representative city of K-battery by winning as the “2022 Battery Leading City” and succeeded in attracting investment of more than $3 billion, establishing a virtuous cycle value chain for battery core material production.
Accordingly, a plan is underway to secure Korea’s competitiveness in the global electric vehicle market by attracting Tesla’s second plant in Asia.
As COVID 19 and population aging accelerate, the importance of the ‘bio-health industry’ is emphasized, and various core infrastructures, including ‘Bio Open Innovation (BOIC)’, are being emphasized inreality.
With the establishment of various R&D facilities, a research collaboration network is being established. Aiming to become the world’s top 3 hydrogen fuel cell power generation cluster, taking the lead in revitalizing the hydrogen economy, the ‘hydrogen fuel cell cluster’ project is undergoing a preliminary feasibility study, and it has been selected for the ‘hydrogen city development project’ to produce, move, and charge hydrogen energy. We plan to present a standard model of a hydrogen city with full-cycle infrastructure.
With the goal of becoming a city-dwelling marine tourist city Pohang city made an Asia’s largest experiential sculpture ‘Space Walk’, which has reached 1 million visitors within a year of opening, and noew is focusing on promoting the creation of the Ocean Skywalk and National Marine Garden. As Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “We will grow beyond a global steel city to become a global hub city for key new industries in the future and leap to an innovative city that opens new possibilities in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.”