Gangdong-gu, Promoting Happy Village Community Project

Expansion of Neighborhood Building Support Project to 150 Sites, Establishment of 6 Village Vitality Centers by 2022

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) will continue to steadily promote the village community project this year to create a "Gangdong Village Community where residents, villages, and local communities are happy together."

Last year, the district reviewed the achievements and challenges of the village community project from 2012 to 2018 and conducted a village community research project to promote a long-term and systematic village community project.

Through this, the basic plan for the second five-year phase (2019 ~ 2023) of the village community was established, and 10 strategies and 20 strategic tasks are being pursued to achieve the vision of a "Gangdong Village Community where residents, villages, and local communities are happy together."

This year, as the second year of the five-year basic plan, the district will focus on ▲support projects for creating warm village communities ▲establishing a public-private governance system ▲strengthening village-autonomy cooperation systems ▲expanding and revitalizing open spaces ▲activating village academies ▲strengthening village community promotion to achieve the vision according to the village community basic plan.

Based on the 2019 project evaluation, efforts will be made to improve and fully commit to realizing village communities suited to the characteristics of the Gangdong-gu area.

◇Expansion of Resident-Proposed Community Meeting Support Projects and Strengthening of Community Networks

The district has been steadily continuing the resident-proposed contest projects to restore community spirit. The contest projects are supported in four stages according to the formation stage of the meetings: seed stage, sprout stage, growth stage, and fruit stage. From 2013 to 2019, a total of 657 community meetings were supported, striving to revitalize village communities and spread awareness of the projects.

In 2020, a total of 187 community meetings are planned to be supported, especially expanding the "Neighbor-Making Support Project," the first stage of discovering resident meetings, to 150, allowing various residents to experience village communities.

Additionally, various community meetings such as single-person households, environment, childcare, apartment communities, and small library support types will be supported, and efforts will be made to expand the scope of contest projects and discover models for solving local problems.

Furthermore, this year, by strengthening networks among meetings, an environment will be created for communication and solidarity, and education and consulting will be continuously supported so that village community meetings can grow into cooperatives.

◇Creation of Six ‘Village Vitality Centers’ as Community Meeting Support Spaces by 2022

The district plans to establish six Village Vitality Centers by 2022 as part of the infrastructure project for village community meetings, with two additional centers in Gangil-dong and Cheonho-dong scheduled to open this year.

Since starting the creation of Village Vitality Centers in 2016, the Seongnae Eoultre, a resident community facility with one basement and five floors above ground, was opened in 2018. Within one year of opening, it achieved a total of 1,649 bookings and 15,267 users.

It has established itself as a resident-friendly space with publicness and openness, serving as a local forum where residents can share diverse opinions and local issues.

In particular, the Cheonho-dong Village Vitality Center, opening this year, is expected to serve as a control tower for community spaces in Gangdong-gu by diagnosing and supporting community spaces within the district as a hub-type Village Vitality Center.

◇Creating Synergy through Public-Private Cooperation and Training Village Experts

The Gangdong-gu Village Community Support Center, an intermediary support organization connecting residents and administration, carries out projects such as promoting and supporting contest projects for village community revitalization, operating village community education and academies to strengthen residents' capabilities, and supporting the activation of village network meetings.

Moreover, the Gangdong-gu Village Community Support Center and the Gangdong-gu Social Economy Division’s Village Community Team will relocate their offices to the Cheonho-dong Village Vitality Center, a hub-type center opening in June this year, working together to present a "Gangdong-type Village Community Support Center model" where public and private sectors cooperate and communicate more closely.

The district has expanded the number of village support activists, who play an overall support role in village community projects, to 10 and assigned them by region. Village support activists communicate with residents on-site and assist with contest project support and village network activities. This year, to enhance the professionalism of village support activists, systematic education such as instructor training and facilitator courses will be provided in addition to basic education to support their growth as village experts.

◇Creating Synergy through Public-Private Cooperation and Training Village Experts

To spread awareness of village communities, the district plans to utilize Village Vitality Centers to provide resident education programs and create opportunities for networking among residents.

Along with this, by operating resident-led education programs, residents will have the experience of being the main agents of education, providing opportunities for growth. Various academies will be continuously operated through programs such as visiting youth village education and village exploration programs.

Additionally, to allow residents easy access to information related to village communities and share various excellent cases, village recorders and village reporters will be operated, producing and publishing a village newspaper every quarter to promote greater resident interest and participation in village community projects.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, "For residents to develop into a happy and sustainable village community, residents' interest and voluntary participation are most important," adding, "We will work together with residents so that anyone can enjoy 'small but certain happiness' within the village through the village community project."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.