The Gochang County Urban Regeneration Support Center (Director: Professor Hwang Ji-wook), operated by the Research Infrastructure Construction Project Group of the Industry-University Cooperation, selected outstanding ideas for Gochang County's urban regeneration through an idea competition and held an awards ceremony on October 26.

This contest targeted Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) undergraduate and graduate students and was held from September 1 to October 24 under the theme 'Strategies for Revitalizing the Gochang County Terminal Area'.

Thirty ideas that could inject vitality into the urban regeneration strategic planning area around the Gochang terminal were submitted through the contest. After a first-round evaluation and a second-round presentation evaluation, four teams were selected as finalists.

At the awards ceremony, the 'Gohai' team (Nam Ju-young, Lee Yong-hyun, Kim Su-in, Jang Hee-jae), which proposed a commercial revitalization idea using Gochang's food resources as the first capital of the Korean Peninsula, was selected for the Grand Prize and received a cash prize of KRW 1,000,000.

In addition, the 'Salguchung' team (Kim Joo-ae, Shin Yoo-jung, Kang Su-min), which proposed a stay-type program to attract young people; student Nam Ji-won, an individual applicant, who proposed a tourism item using augmented reality games; and the 'Palsekjo' team (Kim Hyun-gyu, Kim Ji-song, Hwang Yun-ha, Kim Seung-hyun), which proposed street calming and creation of cultural spaces, were selected for the Excellence Award, Outstanding Award, and Encouragement Award, respectively.

Professor Hwang Ji-wook, Director of the Gochang County Urban Regeneration Support Center, said, "This contest provided an opportunity for young people to visit Gochang in person, walk the target sites, conduct field surveys, and interview local residents to consider ways to revitalize Gochang. It is highly meaningful that students approached urban regeneration not only from an urban engineering perspective but also from various angles, viewing it through the fresh perspectives of young people. We will continue to make greater efforts to implement programs to discover youth-driven urban regeneration ideas that will inject vitality into declining areas."