Seoul will bring together architects, designers, scientists and urban policy experts this week to explore how a life-centered approach to design can shape more vital cities. The 2026 Seoul Design International Forum will be held on Tuesday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza under the theme, “Vital Cities: Designing New Possibilities for Life.” The free event will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will be livestreamed through the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Korean- and English-language YouTube channels. The forum, now in its seventh year, comes as the capital seeks to broaden its approach from human-centered design to what city officials describe as life-centered design — an approach that considers people alongside plants, animals and other living things that coexist in urban spaces. “Human-centered design has long been important, but there is now growing discussion of life-centered design, a concept that emphasizes the coexistence of people with other living organisms in urban environments,” Choi In-kyu, director-general at the city’s design policy bureau, told The Korea Times. The