Boram Kimhur (also known as Boram Kim) has more than 10 years of experience as a practitioner, technical advisor, consultant and researcher in the field of urban development, housing for the urban poor and architecture and engineering in various countries including South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia. With the academic background of BSc Architecture and Engineering and MA International Development: Urban Development, her work has been dedicated to the issues of housing policy for low-income groups, slums, urban poverty and housing rights in Asian cities. She has worked at NGOs, a UN agency, bilateral agency as well as a philanthropy foundation. As a community architect, her activities for informal settlements have particularly focused on community-driven housing approaches and delivering their voices to governments and public.

2017 – now      PhD candidate-Housing systems, OTB-Research for the Built Environment, TU Delft

2017 – now      Manager, Architects for Society and People (ASP) http://architects-society-people.org/

2016                ODA Specialist, Urban Development and Climate Change Team, KOICA Viet Nam Country Office

2015                Housing Specialist (Consultant), Hilti Foundation, Philippines and Indonesia

2013-2014       Urban Specialist (IUNV), UN-Habitat Viet Nam Country Office

2011-2012       Programme Manager, Asian Bridge (NGO), South Korea

2011-2012       Lecturer, “NGOs and Contemporary Society” at Hanguk Univ. of Foreign Studies, South Korea

2011-now         Member, Community Architects Network (CAN), Asia

2011-2016        Founder and Advisor, Community Architects Network in Korea, South Korea

2008                 Architect & Assistant Manager, SEEGAN Architects Group. Ltd., South Korea

2005-2008        Architect, HYUNDAI Architects & Engineers Assoc., South Korea

Major projects

  • Pre-feasibility study on “Sustainable solutions for the internally displaced persons (IDPS) in Lahaie, Dame Marie” in Haiti, 2017 (UNDP & KOICA)
  • Pre-feasibility study on “Establishing social housing programme and prototype in Vietnam”, 2017 (Vietnam Ministry of Construction & KOICA)
  • Enabling industrial energy efficiency investments in Vietnam, 2016-17 (Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade & KOICA)
  • Land valuation capacity building and land information system improvement in Vietnam, 2016-17 (Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment & KOICA)
  • Technical assistance for establishing Vietnam green city master plan, 2016-17(Vietnam Ministry of Construction & KOICA)
  • Establishing the detailed master plan of the Huong riverside and piloting a project in Hue City, Viet Nam, 2016 (Hue City People’s Committee & KOICA)
  • Supporting the implementation of the Vietnam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS), 2016 (Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment & KOICA)
  • Advocacy for making inclusive world bamboo community, the session “Stories that change the paradigm: bamboo structures for sustainable and resilient communities” in 2015 World Bamboo Congress, Damyang, South Korea (Hilti Foundation, UNESCAP and UN-Habitat)
  • Alternative Building Technology for Housing the Urban Poor in Asia-Pacific, in the Philippines and Indonesia, 2015 (Hilti Foundation & UNESCAP)
  • Urban Policy Dialogue “Right to Adequate Housing: Roles of Communities in the Housing process”, Viet Nam, 2014 (UN-Habitat)
  • Strengthening urban observatory and statistical systems for urban evidence-based development planning and policies, Viet Nam, 2013-2014 (UN-Habitat)
  • Viet Nam Housing Sector Profile, 2013 (UN-Habitat)
  • Asian Coalition for Community Action (ACCA), in South Korea in collaboration with the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, 2011-2012 (Asian Coalition for Housing Rights & Asian Bridge)
  • Seoul Metropolitan Government/CITYNET/ACHR Workshop, “Inclusive Cities: A Challenge to Housing the Low Income People in Seoul and Asia – People Driven, Co-operative and Community Building”, South Korea, 2012 (Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, CITYNET, Korean Coalition for Housing Rights & Asian Bridge)

Major architectural projects

  • Seo-gu District Office, Gwangju, 2009
  • Research Centre for the Human and Animal’s Common Disease, Jeollabukdo, 2008
  • Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing Building Complex, Cheongju, 2007-2008
  • Fuji Xerox Bupyeong Logistics Center, 2007
  • Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Dormitory, Gangreung, 2007
  • Hana Bank Head Quarter Office Renovation, Seoul, 2007
  • Gyeongsang University BNIT R&D Centre, Jinju, 2006
  • Daegu Dongsan-dong Residential and Commercial Complex Building, Daegu, 2006
  • Shenzhen BOE semiconductor manufacturing building complex, Shenzhen, 2006
  • BOE semiconductor manufacturing building complex, Beijing, 2005
Books/ Book chapters
  • Kim, B (2014) Urban development. In KOICA (ed), The lecture on development studies, pp. 206-34, Pureunsup: Pajusi. (published only in Korean)
  • Kim, B (ed) (2012) 2012 Daeyeon Wooam Community’s Housing Project: Daeyeon Wooam Community’s Dream, the Committee of Daeyeon Wooam Social Housing Cooperatives, Joeundang: Seoul.
  • Kim, B. & S. Geertman (forthcoming) Informally developed housing and its role in the political arena of a post-reform communist city. In R. Rocco and J. Ballegooijen (eds) The Routledge Handbook on Informal Urbanisation.
  • Kim, B, H. Park & J. Park (forthcoming) The evolution of informal settlers’ political gains in changing state regimes in Seoul. In R. Rocco and J. Ballegooijen (eds) The Routledge Handbook on Informal Urbanisation.
Articles
  • Kim, B. et al (2014) Resident communities as the main vehicle of maintaining and renovating the old public housing (Khu tap the) in Hanoi, published by the Viet Nam Institute of Construction and Urban Economics.
  • Kim, B. et al (2014) Community-driven design of vertical housing: Lessons learnt from Borei Keila in Phnom Penh and a possible application in Kim Lien Khu tap the in Hanoi, published by the Viet Nam Institute of Construction and Urban Economics.
  • Kim, B. (2012) Vinyl-houses in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in CityVoices Vol. 1, No.4, pp. 13.
  • Kim, B. et al (2011) Korea’s development experience: a new perspective, KoFID/ReDI Issue Brief Vol.4, published by Korea Civil Society Forum on International Development Cooperation& Re-shaping Development Institute.
Contributions
  • Article 11: The right to an adequate standard of living (contributing author), in the report “UN Country Team (UNCT) Vietn Nam contribution to the issues raised by the ECOSOC in relation to the combined second, third and fourth periodic reports of Viet Nam”, UNCT Viet Nam, 2014
  • UN-Habitat (2014) Viet Nam Housing Sector Profile, UN-Habitat: Nairobi. (contributing editor)
  • Social development and green growth in Da Nang (contributing author), In UN-Habitat & GGGI (2014) Da Nang Green Growth City Development Strategy.
Policy & project research papers
  • Kim, B. & Wicki, D. (2015) Report on the preliminary project feasibility research and field research findings in Indonesiaprepared for the Hilti Foundation’s project “Alternative Building Technologies for Housing the Urban Poor in Asia-Pacific.
  • Kim, B. (2014) Initial assessment of Viet Nam indicator systems relevant to urban development, UN-Habitat Viet Nam Office.
  • Kim, B. et al (2014) Report on the Policy Dialogue “Right to Adequate Housing: Roles of Communities in the Housing Process”, held on 13 May 2014 in the National Assembly Building, Ha Noi, Viet Nam, UN-Habitat Vietnam Office: Hanoi.
  • Kim, B. (2014) Enabling urban communities in the housing process as a way of realising the right to adequate housing in Viet Nam, Background paper for the policy dialogue on the Right to Adequate Housing: Roles of Urban Communities in the Housing Process, UN-Habitat Viet Nam Office: Hanoi.
  • Kim, B. et al (2011) Urban poor settlement profile in Seoul: Vinyl-house settlements & Jokbang, a brief report of field research on urban poor settlements in Seoul as a project of Korean Coalition for Housing Rights & Asian Bridge(NGO)
  • Community Architects Network Regional Workshop, Manila, supporting the informal settlement communities in Intramuros and Muntinlupa, April 2015
  • International Conference on Old Urban Public Housing in Viet Nam for Inhabitants’ Better Quality of Life, Hanoi, organised by Vietnam Federation of Construction and Engineering Associations, October 2014
    • advocating the community-participatory approach to the redevelopment/renovation/management of the old public housing (socialist housing) as the representative of the UN-Habitat
  • “Affordable and Resource-efficient Housing Concepts” in ESCAP Knowledge Dissemination Workshop on Sustainable Energy Options, Bangkok, organised by UNESCAP, June 2014
    •  contributing to exploring the feasibility of the project expansion to Vietnam by providing an overview of housing sector for the urban poor and low-income groups
  • Workshop “Shaping priorities around urban poverty reduction and resilience” in Quy Nhon, Viet Nam, organised by IIED, June 2014 
    • sharing the relevant concerns of the government and policy context in Viet Nam
  • Series of advocacy workshops/meetings for supporting urban poor communities’ housing initiatives under the Asian Coalition for Community Action (ACCA) Programme, in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines, 2011-2012
  • 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, advocating the civil society organisation’s voice to the aid effectiveness agenda, in solidarity with other international and domestic CSOs, November 2011
  • Climate change impacts in Viet Nam and responses: an overview of the climate risks in Viet Nam and adaptation measures required”, Internal workshop on KOICA’s strategy in Viet Nam for mainstreaming climate change into the projects, KOICA, Hanoi, June 2016  
  • A community-driven slum upgrading programme in Asia: ACCA and a review on the South Korea case”, Institute for Housing and Urban Development (IHS), Rotterdam, Feb 2016
  • International development and sector specialist: architecture and development, delivered for the researchers at Reshaping Development Institute, October 2015
  • Urban Poor Settlements in Seoul, South Korea, delivered for the students of International Regional Studies, Toyo University in Japan, August 2012
  • Community Organising and Development, delivered for the staff at Human in Love (NGO) as a training course, July 2012
  • People-Centred Development,  delivered for the students at Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, May 2011
  • People-Centred Development: Changes in Perspectives on Development and Poverty, delivered at International Development Cooperative Academy organised by Asian Bridge, May 2011