Suwon City Joins Hands with Freiburg, Germany's 'Environmental City'

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young is joining hands with Freiburg, Germany, a "globally recognized environmental city."

Mayor Yeom met with Dieter Salomon, mayor of Freiburg, Germany, who visited Suwon City Hall on the morning of the 7th, to discuss ways to expand mutual exchanges in the fields of transportation, environment, and urban regeneration, as well as to revitalize private-sector exchanges.

At this meeting, the mayors of both cities agreed to mutually expand their professional knowledge and experience in climate change response fields such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy sectors, and policies promoting the use of bicycles and public transportation.

Mayor Dieter Salomon visited Suwon's Integrated Urban Safety Center on the morning of the 7th to examine advanced technologies for urban safety. From 2 p.m., he toured the area around Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the vicinity of Haenggung-dong, where Eco-Traffic Suwon 2013 took place, and also participated in a temple culture experience program at Bongnyeong Temple.

Mayor Dieter Salomon heard Mayor Yeom's keynote presentation titled "Eco-Traffic Suwon 2013" at the 2012 ICLEI World Congress held in Brazil in June 2012, and expressed his expectations by stating, "I believe this is a meaningful project that transforms Suwon's transportation system and a groundbreaking attempt that will change the paradigm of urban transportation." This led to the first meeting between Suwon City and Freiburg.

Subsequently, Mayor Yeom attended the "Global Town Hall" conference co-hosted by ICLEI, which was held in Germany in April 2013, met with Mayor Dieter Salomon, and agreed to promote friendly relations and exchange projects between Suwon City and Freiburg.

Accordingly, Suwon City dispatched study groups consisting of civil servants from relevant fields including environment, urban development, and transportation in July and November of the previous year to benchmark advanced cases. Freiburg, in turn, sent a delegation led by a vice mayor to participate in Eco-Traffic Suwon 2013 held in Suwon.

Mayor Yeom stated, "Through continuous exchanges and sharing of know-how with Freiburg, Germany, which is recognized as a globally renowned environmental city, it will serve as an opportunity for Suwon City to transition to eco-traffic-centered development."

Freiburg is renowned worldwide as an eco-friendly energy city and ecological city. Except for main arterial roads connecting to Freiburg's city center, all automobile traffic is prohibited. According to the city, Freiburg is promoting the use of bicycles and public transportation, taking pride in the pleasantness and stability of the city.