Seoul Design International Forum to explore life-centered urban future

Seoul will bring together architects, designers, scientists and urban policy experts this week to explore how a life-centered approach to design can shape more vital cities.

The 2026 Seoul Design International Forum will be held on Tuesday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza under the theme, “Vital Cities: Designing New Possibilities for Life.”

The free event will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will be livestreamed through the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Korean- and English-language YouTube channels.

The forum, now in its seventh year, comes as the capital seeks to broaden its approach from human-centered design to what city officials describe as life-centered design — an approach that considers people alongside plants, animals and other living things that coexist in urban spaces.

“Human-centered design has long been important, but there is now growing discussion of life-centered design, a concept that emphasizes the coexistence of people with other living organisms in urban environments,” Choi In-kyu, director-general at the city’s design policy bureau, told The Korea Times.

The forum will open with a keynote address by Liam Young, an Australian-born speculative architect and filmmaker, followed by two sessions featuring presentations and discussions by nine speakers. The first session, titled “City Design That Adds Vitality to Life,” will explore how urban design can improve everyday life, while the second, “Urban Ecosystems Evolving Through Design,” will examine how design can reshape cities and their wider ecosystems. The participants are expected to share their personal experiences and relevant case studies from their respective fields.

Young was selected because his work moves across architecture, film and speculative design to examine how technological change may reshape cities and the daily lives of residents in them, Choi said. Officials hope his perspective will help them examine whether the direction of the city’s existing design projects is aligned with the challenges of the future.

Choi said this year’s forum differs from earlier editions, which placed greater emphasis on celebrated designers and examples of advanced design. The revised format is intended to encourage exchanges across different fields and give participants new perspectives on the future of cities.

About 500 people are expected to attend the forum in person. The city government expects the event to serve as a platform for sharing Seoul’s design policies with residents, overseas experts and other local governments in Korea, he added.

Organizers will also hold a prize drawing for in-person participants. Prizes include GO SEOUL merchandise, as well as hats, notebooks and pen sets featuring Morning Yellow, the city’s color of the year for 2026.