Gwanak-gu Youth Culture Zone 'Popular Spot'

Operation of Various Programs Freely Accessible to Youth in 5 Different Spaces

Youth Coffee One-Day Class Lesson

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) is receiving great response for its 'Gwanak Youth Culture Zone,' a project aimed at creating a youth cultural hub by providing networking spaces and programs for young people.

The 'Gwanak Youth Culture Zone' was selected for the Seoul Metropolitan Government Youth Office’s “2020 Autonomous District Youth Policy Governance Activation Support Project” and is fully funded by the city. Through agreements with private operators, it offers spaces and self-development programs freely accessible to youth until October.

In May, the district held a project contest and selected five local spaces (Nanundari Workshop in Sillim-dong, Deepsoop, Artform-ICUVE, Jaeron Books, and Grit Coffee Lab in Cheongnyong-dong) as youth culture zones. Various programs such as ▲life lectures ▲performances ▲events open to youth participation are being conducted there.

The ‘Youth Enjoyment Workshop Project’ held at a workshop near Sillim Station is conducted with local craft artists to develop craft programs suited to youth sensibilities, such as making leather card wallets, and to form a cultural enjoyment network.

The ‘Open Mic Concert ZONE’ operates a “Practice Room for Everyone” on weekday evenings and a “Sillim-dong Open Mic Concert” on weekends to help socially isolated single-person households in the one-room apartment area freely build relationships within the community.

‘Making Dance Videos’ at a dance practice space near Sillim Station, led by professional dance instructors, encourages mutual network activation by including on-site directing, video shooting and editing, and uploading to SNS.

‘Alone, Together, Discussing’ supports youth in capturing their shining moments through regular writing sessions with professional instructors on topics like self-introductions and project proposals, as well as urban sketch programs that depict everyday moments, held at a book cafe.

The ‘Youth Coffee One-Day Class’ is a gathering at a cafe in Cheongnyong-dong where youth aspiring to be baristas explore career paths and share common interests through coffee-making practice and tasting experiences.

Programs at each space limit participants to under 10 through prior registration and operate in compliance with quarantine rules such as temperature checks, hand sanitizing, and mask-wearing.

Mayor Park Junhee said, “Through the Gwanak Youth Culture Zone project, we hope to revitalize exchanges among youth who have been stagnated due to COVID-19 and operate it as a shared space that satisfies the diverse spatial needs of young people.”

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