▲ Seung-Rok Oh, the head of Nowon-gu, Seoul, who conceived the “garden of light” © World Lighting News.

Written by : Jung-Bae Kim. Publisher & Editor. Lighting Critic.

“Activating the local economy in Nowon-gu is the first task that the district mayor, a local administrator, has to take. In order to achieve that goal, we envisioned creating a “garden of light”. Like Lyon, the “city of light” in France, Nowon-gu will develop the region by using “light” and “lighting”.”

Seung-Rok Oh, head of Nowon-gu, Seoul, who opened the'Garden of Light' on December 21 last year, and succeeded in gathering hot topics in the press, S N S, and YouTube at once, was a little inspired by the reaction beyond expectations.

However, what made the Mayor Seung-Rok Oh more pleasing than such popularity is that the ‘Garden of Lights’ is continuing to be criticized by experts that it will greatly contribute to improving the living quality of local residents and vitalizing the local economy.

Regarding this, mayor Seung-rok Oh said, "Wouldn't it be the mayor of the ward that should be done for the residents, no matter how difficult it is, if we could save the local economy?"

In the first place, Mayor Oh Seung-rok conceived the ‘Garden of Lights’, a permanent nighttime landscape lighting theme park, something like a ‘niche market’ that he found after repeating research on what will lead the development of Nowon-gu.

“If Lyon in France succeeded in becoming a “global city of light” with one lighting, Nowon-gu could do it,” said Oh Seung-rok, mayor. The idea of ​​Ward Mayor Oh Seung-rok was embodied in the opening of the “Garden of Light” on December 21 after a year of preparation.

However, Mayor Seung-Rok Oh already has a successful experience with the regional growth model that "uses lighting to accelerate the development of the region." The model of success is the “Light Festival” held in the area of ​​Danghyeoncheon in Nowon-gu from April 27 to May 6 last year. With the holding of this “Light Festival”, Nowon-gu has established itself as the leading local government in Seoul in terms of lighting.

Ward Mayor Seung-Rok Oh said, "I would like to thank Gwang-bin Choi, general planner, MP Son Jang-bok, and officials from various suppliers for the past year to open this “Garden of Light.” In addition, he said, “I sincerely thank the residents of Nowon-gu who visited the “Garden of Light” and the members of the Nowon-gu council who fully supported this project.”

Ward mayor Seung-Rok Oh has the idea that "in the future, we will continue the'Garden of Lights' project and settle it as a'light spot in Korea'."

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