A festival celebrating urban regeneration in Cheonggye-myeon, Muan County, brought together residents, merchants, and university students, injecting new life into the local community and economy.
On October 28, Muan County announced that over 500 participants, including residents and students, attended the '2026 Cheonggye-myeon Urban Regeneration Anyone Can Dream Festival' held near the back gate of Mokpo National University.
The festival was part of a specialized urban regeneration project in Cheonggye-myeon, focusing on sharing the achievements of the urban regeneration initiative and establishing a collaborative foundation for growth between the community and the university.
Participating organizations included the Cheonggye-myeon Urban Regeneration Residents' Council, the Merchants Association, Mokpo University’s Anchor Project Team, the SCOUT Honam-Jeju Project Team, and the Cheonggye-myeon Urban Regeneration Field Support Center.
The festival featured an urban regeneration promotional exhibition, interactive booths for residents, food stalls, and rest areas for visitors, transforming the area around the university's back gate into a vibrant space for community and student interaction.
The Urban Regeneration Field Support Center organized activities such as making mosaic tile pot holders, a wordplay event called 'Cheonggye Dream,' and making dalgona (a traditional Korean candy). The Residents' Council engaged visitors through a 'Anyone Can Ramen' booth that captured the autumn camping spirit.
Participating organizations showcased various programs, including making homemade gochujang (Korean chili paste), Nordic walking, sports stacking, tasting and evaluating seaweed cold noodle salad, making makgeolli (Korean rice wine), and crafting wooden clocks.
Local merchants participated by offering experiences such as a bookstore, financial education, pottery making, and selling herb pots, demonstrating the potential for linking local businesses with urban regeneration efforts.
Notably, ideas presented by university students from Mokpo University’s Anchor Project Team attracted attention. Students showcased local web magazines, tourism applications, smart farms utilizing discarded solar panels, and travel and character merchandise, highlighting the potential for entrepreneurship and commercialization using local resources.
This event was significant not only as a one-time festival but also as a collaborative effort between the university and the community in urban regeneration. However, the challenge remains to ensure that this interaction leads to actual revitalization of the local economy and sustained resident participation through follow-up projects.
One resident remarked, “It was great to enjoy various programs and communicate with the students. I hope events like this continue so that Cheonggye-myeon and the area around the university become even more vibrant.”
Kim San, the mayor of Muan County, stated, “This festival was a meaningful occasion for residents, merchants, and students to share and communicate about the achievements of the urban regeneration project. We will continue to connect various resources from the community and the university to sustain vitality in the local community and economy.”
Meanwhile, the specialized urban regeneration project in Cheonggye-myeon aims to activate the local community by linking university resources and local businesses with resident participation. Muan County plans to establish a sustainable foundation for urban regeneration in Cheonggye-myeon through resident-led activities and university collaboration.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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