The first plans for Paju Book City were created in 1989 by a group of publisher desiring a model village that would be based solely on the idea of books and their productions, and that this model village would place “common good” above “ruthless self-interest”, as well as be built in harmony with the existing environment of the area. The Korean government lent support to this plan and in 2001 the foundation as begun for the Asia Publication Culture and Information Centre which has since morphed into approximately 150 buildings containing more than 200 publishing companies. The development process was unusual, as the desire for "harmony" was placed above the desire for "industrial development." Two different architects were commissioned as 'architectural coordinator' (Min Hyun-Shik and Seung H-Sang). These coordinators worked in concert with UK architect Florian Beigel of the University of North London, as well as more local architects Kim Jong-Kyu and Kim Young-Joon, in preparing an Architectural Guideline for Bookcity. All individual buildings had to be built according to that guideline and the city was divided into sectors, with each sector being given a lead architect. As the official site of Paju Book City notes, "It also was not an easy task to persuade tenants not accustomed to such a process to follow the plans." Most of Korea's influential publishing companies maintain at least an office in Paju Book City, including MunhakDongne and Chang Bi, the publishers of
Kyung-sook Shin, author of
Please Look After Mother which won the
Man Asian Literary Prize. Paju has also created its own series of book prizes given to Asian books, writers, designers, publishing companies, and editors “who have dedicated themselves to the development and promotion of Asian publication culture.” ==Events==