Changdong district, a relatively small residential commuter area, lies on the northern outskirts of Seoul. Home to a few hundred thousand people, it's an area that's growing but which has little cultural facilities or industry. [...] City planners hope that K-pop can do for Changdong what the Beatles did for Liverpool in the UK attracting both locals and tourists into the area, who could bring jobs and spending power with them.
 

Lord co-wrote and co-edited Cities, Museums and Soft Power, a book of essays by prominent culture experts on the influence of museums and arts institutions on cities and citizens. While hard power is exerted by countries through weapons, war, sanctions and money, soft power creates influence through persuasion, agenda-setting and culture, Lord says.

In a bid to boost the art, culture, theatre, music and creative thinking sphere in the city, a group of industrialists, entrepreneurs and corporate executives has formed the Chennai International Centre (CIC).

Changsha, capital city of central China's Hunan Province, has been awarded the title of the "2017 Culture City of East Asia" in a program established by China, Japan and South Korea in Beijing. [...] The three candidate cities were judged by an 11-member committee of experts in the fields of cultural exchange, cultural service system construction and intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance.