The National Urban Research agency, Architecture & Urban Research Institute (auri), is to be promoted to the Korea National Institute of Architecture and Urban Research from this November. It will follow the promulgation of the Act on the Establishment, Operation and Fostering of Government-funded Research Institutes released on May 19. This promotion has been made 13 years after its establishment as a subsidiary organisation of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements under the Prime Minister’s Office.
Auri was established in June 2006 as the first national research agency in the field of architecture and urban space, and has been performing various tasks such as the revitalisation of public architecture, the development of city design strategies, and research on building assets. Attempts were made to achieve recognition as an independent research institute in the past, but the law behind national research institutions had not yet come to pass. Amid general consensus that as a foundation it has stably and consistently supported the field, along with following policy tenets of separating urban sectors from land use and development, its hierarchical status has escalated.
This promotion is expected to have an impact on national undertakings, the implementation of local policies, and the promotion of related industries. It is expected to improve the national land development plan and the quality of life for all citizens through the innovation of public architecture in order to address local governments’ regional agendas, enhance cooperation with various specialist organisations, and increase competitiveness by supporting the construction service industry. Auri said, ‘With the integration of the legal entity and the research team, it will become easier to coordinate within a structure, and we are looking forward to conducting more proactive research projects to improve public design, implement three-year life-SOC plans, and to develop the national land usage, among other aims and ambitions’.