Assistant Professor Park-Lee led a panel discussion on depopulation during the EXPO 2025 Osaka
Professor Seungho Park-Lee of the Department of Design, alongside professor Gihyoug Cho of the Department of Civil, Urban, Earth, and Environmental Engineering at UNIST, participated in a panel discussion hosted by the European Union (EU). The event, entitled “Shaping Urban Futures: Design, Technology & Democracy,” focused on exploring new policies to address challenges related to regional decline and decreasing populations.
The panel discussion was commenced with a keynote speech by Henna Virkkunen, European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy. Virkkunen started off her keynote by focusing on the common challenges we as a global society faces and the importance of sharing and collaboration by stating “From Seoul to Osaka, from Tokyo to Brussels, cities are on the front line of transformation […] across continents, we are all facing similar pressures.”
Virkkunen emphasized that “technology, when combined with citizen engagement, can help us reimagine urban life – from adaptive housing to smart mobility, from nature-based solutions to AI-supported urban planning” stressing that lasting transformation cannot be designed for communities – it must be shaped with them”
While some cities are becoming increasingly international, others are losing its population especially young ones. […] What if we saw these pressures not only as problems to solve, but also as opportunities to design better futures?
Seungho Park-Lee
Assistant professor Seungho Park-Lee served as the moderator for the panel discussion, guiding discussions with key insights and emphasizing the importance of ongoing urban transformation through the integration of design, technology, and citizen participation.
Professor Gihyoug Cho highlighted ongoing citizen engagement and technological integration projects in Miryang and Andong, Korea, which are designed to develop future urban environments. He underscored that “[D]igital technology is a vital means for creating citizen-centered policies in declining cities,” and stressed that “[F]uture cities should serve as laboratories for continuous policy experimentation.”
Dr. Boden emphasized the importance of implementing culturally sensitive, data-driven urban policies that recognize the unique histories and identities of European cities. Dr. Hämälainen shared Finland’s innovative use of AI and virtual reality technologies to enhance urban living conditions, particularly for foreigners and individuals with disabilities. Meanwhile, Professor Yabutani highlighted the value of community-driven approaches to designing urban networks, aiming to effectively tackle challenges such as population decline and an aging population.
Meanwhile, supported by the the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)’s “Basic Research Program for Right-Sizing Technologies to Address Local Extinction,” UNIST researchers are conducting citizen-participation-based urban planning projects in Miryang and Andong. They visit these cities weekly, engaging residents in envisioning and designing future urban environments.
Original text written by JooHyeon Heo Public Relations Team at UNIST