The Seoul Metropolitan Government held an inaugural General Assembly of the Global Design Cities Organization (GDCO) with representatives of 17 cities from around the world at the International Conference Center in Yangzhou City, China on September 26, and officially inaugurated the organization. The assembly was held about one year after the City established the secretariat of the GDCO at the Seoul Design Foundation in 2010 and started preparations in earnest.
Discussions over the establishment of the GDCO were initiated in 2010 at the Global Design City Summit (GDCS), which was held in connection with the World Design Cities (WDC) Seoul project.
Accordingly, the City Government established a secretariat at the Seoul Design Foundation to prepare for the inauguration of the GDCO, and successfully launched the organization through efforts that continued for more than one year. Representatives from different cities held a briefing session on the establishment of the GDCO, and presented ways to develop the organization at the Yangzhou meeting. They then approved the organization's operational agreement comprising 18 articles, Article 11 of which provides that the secretariat be located in Seoul.
Going forward, the organization's member cities will conduct studies on ways to boost urban competitiveness and implement joint projects under a consensus that design will be essential to enriching the life of citizens and to assure sustainable urban development through continuous exchange and cooperation.
Meanwhile, Ankara, the capital of Turkey, which is implementing a project to reinstate the city, was chosen as the chair city of the GDCO at the meeting in China. As such, the GDCO's General Assembly and the Global Design City Summit in 2013 will take place in Ankara.
