GoyangCon branding, global acts, and a hub for self-sustaining industry and culture

Goyang Mayor Donghwan Lee says the remaining term will focus on building a self-sustaining city by advancing high-tech industries, culture, and MICE, to open a “Goyang Success Era” and a “Citizen Happiness Era.” He plans to develop the Istsan Techno Valley, Goyang Broadcasting and Video Valley, and the Daegok Station district’s Knowledge Convergence hub, while breaking ground on the KINTEX Phase 3 Exhibition Hall, designating a Venture Promotion Zone, and opening GTX-A with expanded Western Seong and suburban lines, all under the banner of attracting world-class artists to establish the “GoyangCon” brand. The administration emphasizes upgrading transport and urban infrastructure to solidify the city’s self-sufficient foundation and enhancing the city’s global role through diplomacy, including hosting the UCLG ASPAC Changgung Assembly and aiming for a top-tier position in the Global City Sustainability Index (GDS-I).
The city frames its expansion as a balance between large-scale performances and international meetings and the industrial ecosystem, integrating transport and urban infrastructure upgrades to strengthen the self-sufficient city concept. The starting point remains attracting businesses and creating quality jobs, with projects like the Goyang Economic Free Zone and rapid development of related industrial ecosystems already underway, contributing to job creation and greater fiscal conditions through national and provincial funding. GTX-A and other rail projects are reshaping the metropolitan transit map toward a “30-minute living circle” for residents, with bus network overhauls, autonomous buses, and smart traffic systems enhancing transfer convenience and mobility.
Culturally, turning the Goyang Sports Complex into a performance venue has sparked a wave of global acts—Blackpink, Coldplay, Oasis, Travis Scott—attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and generating substantial economic impact, including projected concert revenues surpassing 9 billion won this year. This growing prominence is fostering a robust “GoyangCon” brand that links culture with regional commerce, lodging, and transportation, and the city plans to sustain this momentum into the next year.
Internationally, the 10th UCLG ASPAC General Assembly in Goyang drew attendees from 27 countries, marking the largest gathering ever hosted by a local government in the region; the event underscored Goyang’s role as a policy city leading global urban collaboration. Lee was elected co-chair for Northeast Asia, expanding the city’s role in city diplomacy and collaborative solutions to climate, demographics, and regional inequality. The administration reaffirms its pledge to realize the “Goyang Success Era, Citizens’ Happiness Era” through continued growth and public engagement, including direct dialogue with all 44 municipalities and finishing the remaining growth strategies laid out in the G-Nomics five-year plan.