Ansan City Presents "Industry x City = 40" Special Exhibition, Highlighting 40 Years of Growth Alongside Industry

Marking the 40th Anniversary of Ansan's Elevation to City Status
Exhibition of Electronics, Urban Planning Materials and Residents' Records
Rotary Phone and HiTEL Experiences
Share Memories and Foster Connection Across Generations

Ansan City in Gyeonggi Province has organized a special exhibition highlighting how the city’s landscape and residents’ daily lives have changed alongside industrial development to mark the 40th anniversary of its elevation to city status.

Ansan City Opens Special Exhibition “Industry x City = 40” to Mark 40th Anniversary of Its Elevation to City Status. Photo courtesy of Ansan City.

Ansan City Mayor Lee Min-geun said on October 26 that the opening ceremony for the special exhibition “Industry x City = 40” was held at the Ansan Industrial History Museum on October 23.

The exhibition captures how Ansan has changed as it grew alongside industry since being elevated to city status in 1986. Through archival materials and interactive programs, it explores the effects of technological advances on residents’ lives and communication, as well as changes in housing, transportation and urban spaces.

The exhibition consists of two sections: “Electronic Everyday Life” and “The Life Cycle of a City.”

The first section explores changes in daily life through electronics once used in homes and offices, including radios, televisions, telephones and computers. Visitors can experience recreated living spaces from the past, listen to a radio, use a rotary phone and connect to HiTEL, an early online service. The section offers older generations a chance to reminisce and younger visitors an opportunity to learn about their parents’ lives.

The second section traces Ansan’s development from an industrial city to the city it is today. Urban planning documents, old photographs and materials related to housing and transportation illustrate how the city has changed over the past 40 years.

Photographs and records provided by residents are also on display. Moments spent with family and friends, everyday life at school and in the neighborhood, and children’s diaries show how the individual lives and memories of residents have shaped the city’s history.

The exhibition title, “Industry x City = 40,” conveys the idea of looking back on Ansan’s past 40 years through the relationship between industry and the city.

“Ansan’s past 40 years are a history shaped together by industrial growth, urban development and the residents who have lived here,” Mayor Lee said. “I hope this exhibition gives residents a chance to look back on Ansan’s development and helps future generations understand the city’s history and value, while imagining its future together.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.