Seoul Jung-gu, 2021 Dong Resident Participation Budget Resident Proposals Received

Accepting Resident Proposal Projects Until September 18, Non-Face-to-Face Online Submission Available... Tasks or Projects to Reflect in the 2021 Budget for Our Neighborhood Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seoyangho) has started accepting resident proposal projects for the 2021 Dong Resident Participation Budget allocation.

The target proposal projects are tasks or projects that residents want to be reflected in the 2021 budget for the development of their neighborhood. Anyone, including residents of the respective dong, office workers, and students, can freely submit proposals until September 18.

Proposals can be submitted directly to the jurisdictional Dong Resident Center or by filling out the form and sending a photo via the district office’s official mobile messenger, U-Happiness Communication (#1110-3396).

The forms are available at each Dong Resident Center and can also be downloaded from the district office website.

The proposed projects by residents are first reviewed by the project department for feasibility, including urgency, beneficiary scope, project effectiveness, compliance with laws and ordinances, and required budget. Based on the results, the final budget plan is formed through a general meeting and resident voting.

Last year, a resident general assembly involving all residents was held to decide project priorities. This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, priorities will be determined through a general meeting and mobile voting accessible to all residents. Representatives from various resident groups such as parent associations, apartment complex resident representative councils, and merchant associations will participate in the general meeting, and resident mobile voting will utilize highly accessible platforms like Google and Naver.

Additionally, to secure broad representation, the district operates more detailed resident subcommittees such as the Education and Children Subcommittee, Autonomous Economy Subcommittee, and Sharing and Health Subcommittee from the project discovery stage. Each dong will also open non-face-to-face online group chat rooms to support the activation of online public forums centered on small groups. This will help discover key agendas and current projects for each group and encourage sufficient deliberation and discussion.

In January last year, the district became the first nationwide to establish a Dong Government Department, transferring 79 district office tasks to the Dong Resident Centers along with the authority to allocate budgets.

The term Dong Government literally means that each dong acts as a small government. The aim is to increase the speed and perceived effect of administrative services while expanding resident participation, with each dong’s budget also being allocated based on residents’ proposals.

Last year, 179 projects worth 12.2 billion KRW were allocated through resident proposals.

This fresh attempt by Jung-gu was selected as the best local government in the Basic Local Government category in the 2019 Resident Participation Budget System Operation comprehensive evaluation hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The Dong Resident Participation Budget system, based on resident participation, is significant in that it fully grants residents the decision-making authority over the budget allocated to each dong, allowing residents to exercise real power.

In fact, projects proposed by residents, ranging from neighborhood environment improvement projects such as alley garden creation, to convenience facility installations like unmanned libraries and shade rest benches, and support projects for vulnerable groups such as the Jungnim Happy Laundry, are showing results and increasing resident satisfaction.

Each dong will concretize the projects proposed by residents by the end of September, decide priorities through general meetings and resident voting, and finalize the budget plan after approval by the district council in November.

For more details, contact the Dong Government Team 1 at the respective Dong Resident Center.

Seoyangho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “I thank the residents who actively participated in the somewhat inexperienced process of this policy started last year and decided the dong budget where they live. Through Jung-gu’s unique Dong Resident Participation Budget allocation that directly reflects residents’ living needs, we will realize a true Dong Government where residents are the owners.”

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