Seoul Design Week 2016 Aims to Make Seoul a 'Smart' City

On September 22, the Seoul Design Week 2016 opened at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and will be held until October 2.

The Korea Times stated in an article that this year's theme is "Smart City, Smart Design, Smart Life." Hosted by Seoul Design Foundation, the event seeks and features smart designs that can initiate a smart life and a smart city. The event also focuses on determining the roles and responsibilities of design in a modern era and identify smarter solutions for the citizens' convenience and for the sustainability of the city.

The event has four categories with various programs namely Seoul Smart Mobility International Conference and Exhibition, Universal Design Seoul Exhibition, Seoul Crafts Fair and Crafts Free Market and AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) SEOUL 2016.

The first two days of the event was focused on highlighting Seoul Smart Mobility International Conference. The two-day conference had notable guests in the mobility field as speakers. It was an opportunity for experts, design students and citizens to learn and discuss what awaits mobility and transportation systems in Seoul.

A professor of vehicle design from the Royal College of Art, Matteo Conti, said, "Moving in the digital era, future mobility solutions will be shaped by public involvement in the design process. Seol's challenge is moving 11.8 million people. Commuters need to move but they also need more personal space. Alternative services for improved urban mobility are needed. And this will require an inclusive design process focused on human-centered design. We need to co-design to exploit ICT and a new social mindset."

During his presentation, the Chair of Transportation Design at the College of Creative Studies, Paul Snyder, presented a multilayered transit system wherein new pod-type vehicles run below ordinary passageways that became eco-friendly public spaces. This innovation is called "Double Street."

The CEO of Trans Lab and professor at the Art Center College of Design, Lim Bum Suk, stated that people will require a means of transportation that could carry them from door to door in the future. According to him, "We will need personal vehicles to make a smooth transition from roads to public transportation. There must be a seamless transition - the experience has to be continuous. Mobility design cannot be separated from the public. This challenge will open a brand new opportunity to which we do not yet have a solution but many companies will come up with them."

The Seoul Design Week event is free of charge and it offers workshops for design students as well.