Cover Story

Developing Daegu



Daegu is the only city which doesn’t have a national industrial complex out of 8 metropolitan cities and 8 provinces. However, Daegu is going to be developed with the construction of Daegu Technopolis and Daegu Suseong Medical City and the opening of the city monorail. In this edition of the Gazette, I will introduce Daegu Technopolis, Daegu Suseong Medical City, and the city monorail.

Daegu Technopolis

Technopolis will be a city of more than 150,000 people an many science-oriented conpanies and research facilities in the suburbs of Hyeonpung-myeon and Yuga-myeon, Dalseong-gun. According to Daegu Gyeongbuk Free Economic Zone Authority, Daegu Metropolis will be a Korean Silicon Valley. The total are of Daegu Technopolis will be 7,261,763 square meters. LH (Korea Land and Housing Corporation) will use around 2 trillion won to build industrial facilities, research facilities, and support facilities. Furthermore, high-tech industries like IT (information technology), bio technology, nano technology, info-communications, and software will move into Daegu Technopolis. Already, some institutes like the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, and DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology) have moved into Daegu Technopolis ot are about to move. Elementary, middle, and high schools are also planned.

Daegu City and KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation) revealed that Daegu Technopolis will be a self-sufficient energy city. The two organizations have signed and MOU to promote renewable energy like solar energy. The two organizations will supply new renewable energy like photovoltaic cells and fuel cells.

However, Daegu Technopolis is not good in all aspects. Real estate agents have published leaflets saying subway line 1 will be connected to the area soon. However, it is false. A worker in Daegu City Hall said that although the extension of line 1 will be confirmed, it will take at least several years to start. Yoon Yong-tae, who is the head of RERI (Institute of Real Estate Economic Research) said, “Apartment construction companies compete with each other and publish exaggerated advertisements. Hence, residents must check which advertisements are true. A real estate contract is a big matter, needing hundreds of millions of won, so people must check an apartment before signing a contract.”



Daegu Suseong Medical City

Daegu Suseong Medical City is a new city which will be built in Daeheung-dong, Susoeng-gu, by 2017. The area is around 1,225,000 square meters, and 600 billion won will be invested in this city. Daegu Urban Development Corporation revealed that Suseong Medical City will connect eastern and western medicine. Therefore, Daegu will become a center of high-quality medical services.

Five speial hospital s for regenerative medicine, organ transplants, gene therapy, anti-aging medicine, and research about well-being, health, and happiness will be built in Suseong Medical City. Also, four supporting centers such as a clinical information center, an international healthcare center, accommodations for medical tourists, and an institute which evaluates medical technology will be built.

However, Suseong Medical City is not also good in all aspects. Suseong Medical City was appointed a special free economic zone in 2008 but faced difficulties because of the construction of big hospitals. The government didn’t give enough money to residents who were living on the land for Suseong Medical City. The compensation problem is around 60% solved now. The extra 40% will be solved by the end of this year. In April, Lee Jong-duk, the president of Daegu Urban Development Corporation, said “The land compensation is 62% finished now and we will soon start the construction of Suseong Medical City in earnest.”



The City Monorail (line 3)

Daegu monorail (line 3) construction started in June 2009, and it will open at the end of this year. Line 3 is Korea’s first monorail. Line 3 intersects with line 2 at Sinnam Station (ex-Seomun Market Station) and intersects with line 1 at Myeongdeok Station. The total number of stations is 30 from Dongho-dong, Buk-gu, to Beommul-dong, Suseong-gu. Passing through all 30 stations on line 3 takes only 46 minutes. It is 26 minutes shorter compared with a car which takes 72 minutes on the same route. Furthermore, the monorail will increase the number of people using the subway and monorail instead of other transportation like buses and taxies.

However, several groups like Daegu Subway Worker’s Union are worried about the danger of an unmanned subway and unmanned stations. Furthermore, several civic groups have pointed out that line 3 doesn’t have emergency exits despite running on a ten-meter high rail. Therefore, Daegu Urban Railroad Construction Headquarters will appoint six special stations and arrange 6 workers to help passengers. The special stations will be located every five stations and manage the other five stations day and night. The staff will work in pairs and supervise the stations. Furthermore, if there is a problem on the monorail or in a station like a fire or a stoppage on line 3, a worker will go to that place and communicate with the control center about what is going on. If the problem is urgent, the control center will solve the problem quickly.

Regarding emergency exits, Daegu Urban Railroad Construction Headquarters revealed that passengers can use a slide. The slide is an emergency exit usually used in an airplane, making a path to the ground. Line 3 has 4 slides per three cars. Furthermore, for an emergency situation like a fire, heat sensitive sprinklers were installed.

The Construction of Daegu Technopolis and Daegu Suseong Medical City and the opening of the city monorail will make Daegu a more economically developed and important city. However, the projects have problems like false advertisements, insufficient compensation, and safety of operation. If these problems are solved and the projects are finished well, Daegu will attract many investors and medical tourists and make transportation faster and safer.