Completed Creation of 'Women’s Safety Village' Around Sungkyunkwan University in Myeongnyun-dong, Jongno-gu

Installation of Various Safety Facilities Applying Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) from April to December Last Year... Secure Delivery Boxes, Blind Spot Mirrors, and Emergency Bells to Reduce Anxiety for Single Women Households... Mirror Sheets Installed on Villa Entrance Doors, Secure Shutter Painting in Parking Lots, and Village Information Boards

Kim Young-jong, Jongno District Mayor, visiting the site of the Myeongnyun-dong Women’s Safety Village creation project

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) has completed the creation of the 'Isimjeonsim Myeongnyun-dong Safe Village,' a community where women can feel safe and live comfortably, based on improvements to the local physical environment.

The target area for this village creation project, carried out from April to December 2020, includes residential neighborhoods around Sungkyunkwan University and major school routes in Myeongnyun-dong.

Considering the increasing social anxiety due to the rise in crimes targeting women, Jongno-gu applied Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) in this area, which has a high number of single-woman households, and planned the creation of a safe village including the installation of safety facilities.

The safety facilities focused on ▲alleviating anxiety among single-woman households ▲reducing residents' fear during nighttime walking ▲strengthening local basic order, and were evenly installed throughout the target area, including the Children's Science Museum.

As a result, safety features such as secure parcel lockers to ease concerns about home intrusion for single-woman households, floor signs warning about door openings, blind spot mirrors and emergency bells, and enhanced visibility signs for CCTV were installed.

The district also paid close attention to alleviating residents' fear of being followed when walking through narrow and irregular alleys at night. Installations included mirror sheets on villa entrance doors, painting of secure shutters in parking lots, comprehensive village information boards, village symbol signs (LED channel signs), and gobos lighting.

Facilities to address the issue of reduced predictability in blind spots and to reinforce local basic order were also installed. Signs indicating dead-end roads, security bars for privacy protection, fences preventing intrusion into blind spots, and etiquette signs for basic order can be found throughout Myeongnyun-dong.

Meanwhile, last year Jongno-gu promoted the resident-participatory '2020 Women’s Safe Zone Creation Project' in collaboration with the public and private sectors and has been working towards establishing a women-friendly city.

The 'Women’s Safe Zone' refers to a collective term for related women’s safety projects, including women’s safe villages and safe routes for women returning home, forming a village-level resident network to create spaces where women can feel safe.

In addition, as part of the women’s safety projects, various initiatives are underway such as the ‘Safe Return Scout’ which helps women and students returning home late at night and patrols vulnerable areas to prevent crime; women’s safe parcel lockers (unmanned parcel storage boxes) that allow working couples or single-person households to receive deliveries safely even when absent; ‘Women’s Safe Keeper Houses’ where women can evacuate to nearby convenience stores during emergencies and receive police assistance for safe return; and ‘Women’s Safety Guards’ who use special equipment to inspect public restrooms and privately opened restrooms?high-risk multi-use facilities for illegal filming.

Information on the operating hours and usage methods of Jongno-gu’s women’s safety projects can be found on the women-friendly city page of the Jongno-gu Office website.

Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, “We have consistently paid attention and made efforts to realize a community where all residents, including women, children, adolescents, people with disabilities, and the elderly, can live safely and with peace of mind,” adding, “We will continue to implement effective safety projects throughout the region.”

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