A research lab for Governance, Leadership and Management (GLM) aims to contribute to knowledge creation of leadership capacity building by focusing on three important research areas of public policy and management: government innovation, urban governance, and sharing economy. GLM is committed to creative research by adopting the interdisciplinary approach of studying public policy and management.
Under the leadership of three faculty members, including Yoon Cheong Cho, Yu-Min Joo, and Soonhee Kim, the GLM lab is focused on three areas of research. First, concerning innovative leadership in government, the lab research team explores how to develop public management innovation strategy to enhance the quality of service focused on individualized citizen-centered government in the era of digital transformation. Second, focusing on global challenges of urbanization, inclusive growth, and digital transformation, the lab is committed to deliver more accurate analysis of Asia's different and diverse urbanization experiences, including the following research topics: smart cities, international urban networks and governance, city branding, and social inequality. Third, under the research theme of sharing economy, known as access-based consumption and the hybrid economies of collaborative networks, the research team develops interdisciplinary projects on the following areas: sharing economy and smart cities, accommodation sharing and tourism industry, and sharing economy and the role of government
As of October 2021, the GLM research team has been working on a new project called "Sustainability of Slow Cities in the Context of COVID-19." The slow city movement started in the 1980s in Italy, as small town mayors formed a coalition to fight against fast food, globalization, and homogenization. Slow cities are gaining renewed attention amid COVID-19, not only as favorable tourist spots but also as a new way of living, as the pandemic pushes our society to reconsider how we live with the environment. Today, there are around 250 slow cities across 30 countries, and in Asia, Korea has the largest number of slow cities—16. The study examines how citizens perceive their localities' slow city initiatives in Korea. Given the country's rapid economic development and urbanization throughout the latter half of the 20th century, it is worthwhile to ask why a number of local governments in Korea have shifted their focus from fast development to slow movement. In particular, the project is interested in understanding whether or not becoming one of the members of the international slow city movement entails new meaningful changes in local governance. Ultimately, the project uncovers whether and how the COVID-19 is impacting the citizens' perceptions on and engagements with slow city initiatives in Korea.