For “On the Road to Quebec”, the OWHC-AP hosted a preparatory meeting on World Heritage Cities in Korea attended by Korean experts and city representatives.

On March 10th (Korean Standard Time), the OWHC-AP hosted a brainstorming meeting prepare for the thematic workshops, “On the Road to Quebec,” attended by 6 heritage experts and 8 city representatives from World Heritage Cities in Republic of Korea – Gyeongju, Iksan, Gongju, Buyeo.

Under the umbrella concept of “Enhancing Livability in World Heritage Cities”, the panels concentrated their attention and effort on the five urban themes: Transformation of public spaces, enhancement of residential spaces, evolution of mobility, adaptability of the built heritage, and affirmation of a new governance.

Led by Jaeheon Choi, a board member at the ICOMOS-Korea Committee and Professor of Geography and World Heritage Studies at Konkuk University, the participants examined the current state of the Korean World Heritage Cities, and explored various perspectives to solve the problems each city now faces. The solutions will be integrated in the proposal for the pilot projects in the upcoming workshops.

Miok Chae, Professor at the Department of Real Estate and Land Administration at Daegu University, presented on the status of conservation and management of Korean World Heritage Cities and relevant prospect in the future, titled “Restoration and Recovery of Cultural-historical Environment of Korean World Heritage Cities” based on the case studies involving the World Heritage Cities of Gyeongju, Iksan, and Gongju, in Republic of Korea.

The consensus among the panel was reached which emphasized the importance of the cooperation and collaboration between heritage experts and city representatives. For this purpose, it was agreed that more interactions between the two sides would continue for wider sharing of relevant information and expertise in the future.