Solving Local Issues in Nowon-gu Through Voluntary Resident Participation and Public-Private Cooperation

Since 2018, 26 projects have been carried out utilizing neglected local idle spaces and resolving resident proposals through public-private cooperation; in 2021, 9 implementation agendas and 15 infrastructure agendas were selected with a budget of 805 million KRW.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is transforming the local community through public-private cooperation that consults and resolves neighborhood issues with residents.

Public-private cooperation is important in encouraging residents' voluntary participation throughout the entire process, from policy planning to evaluation.

Since the full-scale launch of the district's public-private cooperation activities in 2018, results have begun to emerge this year.

A representative example is the utilization of idle spaces abandoned in the neighborhood. The district reflected residents' proposals in policies, incorporating their opinions in the formation of operating committees and program implementation.

As a first attempt, the "Youth Hideout" opened in January this year. The Youth Hideout, set up in three idle spaces including the community center, the Sangsang Irum Center, and the Child Welfare Center, is an exclusive cultural space for youth. It provides a stage and entertainment opportunities to freely engage in creative activities, allowing them to relieve various stresses.

The underground passage in front of Induk University in Wolgye 2-dong is similar. The long-abandoned underground passage was transformed into a cultural creative space called the "Meet up Center" and opened to the public.

Composed of four spaces?‘Sangsang UP’, ‘Funny UP’, ‘Beauty UP’, and ‘Communication UP’?it is equipped with a one-person media room, band practice room, dance room, and mini theater. The band practice room, furnished with instruments such as keyboards and drums, allows participants to express their talents and passion through dance. The mini theater, with a capacity of 20 seats, can be used by prior reservation.

Since 2019, a total of 26 public-private cooperation projects have been promoted. To discover and implement projects more efficiently, the district conducted a research service to establish a community innovation plan and decided to reflect it in policies. A cooperation coordinator was hired to facilitate smooth communication between the public and private sectors, and the number of cooperation committee members was increased from 30 to 40.

In 2021, based on the achievements so far, nine execution agendas by sector and 15 foundation-building agendas were selected, with a project budget of 850 million KRW planned.

Currently, the district is recruiting about 100 members for the "Cooperation Public Deliberation Group" until December 4 to discover and promote sustainable and mid-to-long-term community innovation agendas.

The Cooperation Public Deliberation Group is expected to become a grassroots direct democracy platform by regularly participating in permanent public forums by region in 2021.

Additionally, on the 25th, the district will hold the "1st Cooperation Nowon Activity Sharing Meeting" at the district office auditorium.

This sharing meeting is an opportunity to share achievements from the initial planning stage to promotion and operation, through the collaboration of public and private TFs formed since 2018.

About 100 people, including 1st and 2nd cooperation committee members, residents involved in cooperation activities, and staff, will participate.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, "Cooperation is a community innovation where residents participate voluntarily throughout the entire process from policy planning to evaluation to solve local problems," and added, "Based on the foundation of the 1st cooperation phase, I hope that in the 2nd phase, with more participation and deeper deliberation, the culture of cooperation will spread throughout Nowon-gu."

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