Ulsan pushes for joint university campus in urban innovation zone

A special law supporting the creation of mixed-use innovation districts — combining industry, residential, cultural, business and research functions — in the hearts of regional cities took effect July 1. But the law contains no provisions for higher education, prompting Ulsan's National Assembly lawmakers and the city government to call for amendments.

Assembly members Yun Jong-o (Ulsan Buk-gu), Park Sung-min (Ulsan Jung-gu), Seo Beom-su (Ulsan Ulju-gun) and Kim Tae-seon (Ulsan Dong-gu), along with Ulsan city officials, held a forum Monday at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Seoul to discuss amending the Special Act on the Establishment and Promotion of Urban Innovation Special Zones to allow joint campuses. The forum, titled "Beyond the Greater Seoul Concentration, Toward Regional Innovation Hubs: A Forum on Amending the Urban Innovation Special Zone Act for Joint Campus Development and Operation," drew about 40 participants, including officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and experts from academia and related institutions.

The forum was convened to build consensus that legislating a "joint campus" provision — excluded from the current law — is essential to creating a virtuous cycle of education, research, employment, entrepreneurship and settlement in regional cities.

Yun introduced an amendment bill in April, co-sponsored by Kim and eight other lawmakers, to supplement the Special Act on the Establishment and Promotion of Urban Innovation Special Zones.

The proposed amendment would allow universities, foreign educational institutions and research bodies to establish joint campuses within urban innovation special zones, and would create a legal basis for supporting the costs of site acquisition, facility construction and ongoing operations.

The forum featured a presentation by Hwang Ju-seong, a research fellow at the Ulsan Research Institute, on the legislative case for the urban innovation special zone law and approaches to building a joint campus. The session was moderated by Seong Si-gyeong, president of the Korean Association for Public Administration. Discussions covered the policy direction for urban innovation special zones, presented by Kwon Mi-jeong, director of the Growth Hub Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the case for a joint campus, by Song Yeon-ju, director of the Decentralization and Population Policy Bureau at Ulsan city; and operational case studies, by Kim Yun-mi, a team leader at the Sejong Joint Campus Operating Corporation.

Ulsan plans to attract departments aligned with the city's strategic industries to the joint campus, deepening industry-academia-research collaboration and broadening efforts to draw in young talent.