Seoul and UN-Habitat to co-host heritage and metropolis webinar next week

Seoul city government will co-host a virtual international conference with UN-Habitat next week to explore ways to protect heritage sites in major cities, officials said on Tuesday.

The webinar, titled “Heritage and Metropolis,” will bring together city and heritage management experts from more than 30 cities in 15 countries for two days of discussions on December 1 and 2, city officials said.

The other participating cities are Shanghai, Milan, Delhi, Istanbul and New York.

On the first day of the meeting, participants will share experiences of heritage management in 12 historic metropolises, including Paris, London and Moscow.

Seoul City, on day two, will present its heritage management policies, particularly those regarding Seoul City Wall, an 18-kilometer Joseon-era fortress that stretches along the Four Inner Mountains of Seoul. On this occasion, the city will also present to the meeting its ongoing efforts to register the fortress as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Following the Seoul event, UN-Habitat, also known as the United Nations Human Settlements Program, plans to hold further international conferences on the issue until 2022 to compile a global report. on heritage and metropolises, according to city officials.

Citizens in general are also welcome to participate in the pre-registration webinar on the Seoul City Wall website (seoulcitywall.seoul.go.kr), the city government said. (Yonhap)