Nowon-gu Establishes Public Design Guidelines to Enhance Urban Image

Scenery-Focused Design → User-Centered Approach Considering Residents' Quality of Life, Convenience, and Safety... Former Public Design Policy Promoted with Four Basic Directions

Nowon Bulbit Garden

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is establishing and implementing a design guideline to be applied to all public facilities within the district.

This is to shift from the previous landscape-focused design approach to a user-centered urban public design that considers residents' quality of life, convenience, and safety.

It also takes into account the harmony with the district’s strengths, such as the beautiful natural environment of mountains and streams.

The basic direction of Nowon public design policy to enhance the urban image from the residents’ perspective will be promoted in four major directions.

First, expanding the application of safety-oriented design to transform aging living spaces into pleasant environments.

Improvement will be made to back roads, alleys, and underground walkways in areas with a high risk of crime and vulnerable cleanliness and safety, especially in neighborhoods with a high concentration of elderly residents and aging housing complexes.

The selection of target areas will be carried out sequentially based on crime statistics rankings over six years since 2014.

Key improvement facilities include upgrading old fences, installing high-definition CCTV and LED security lights, and safety fences, applying visual design to crime prevention infrastructure to deter criminal behavior.

Efforts will also be made to support the elderly who are frequent victims of crime. This includes creating silver cafes in parks to encourage outdoor activities and providing exercise facilities to improve cognitive functions, thereby fostering a community environment for the elderly.

Second, maximizing accessibility to excellent healing spaces such as Suraksan and Bulamsan Mountains.

First, the utilization of cultural waterfront spaces along Jungnangcheon and Danghyeoncheon streams has been enhanced. Features such as the Danghyeoncheon ground fountain, music fountain, and flower waterfall, combined with landscaping and nighttime lighting throughout the entire section, provide visual attractions. Design work on pedestrian facilities is continuously progressing from Suraksan Station to the Suraksan entrance intersection and Suraksan entrance, as well as from Sanggye Station to the surroundings of Danghyeoncheon and Bulamsan entrance. A symbolic street of Nowon, where walking is enjoyable, is also being created. The target area is about a 1 km section from the intersection in front of Lotte Department Store on Dongil-ro to the Full Gospel Church, designed as an urban walking path where people can rest and stroll.

Third, efficient use of existing idle spaces. A representative example is the idle space under the pillars of Subway Line 4. Currently, these spaces are left unused as parking areas for large vehicles, so improvement is urgent. Among 12 locations in the district, three sites including under Danggogae Station have been selected to be promoted in connection with Seoul City's regeneration zone revitalization plan. These spaces will be used as community spaces such as rest areas and cultural education facilities, as well as tracks for jogging or walking and cognitive health programs to foster communication.

Fourth, transforming urban structures such as subway pillars into galleries. Landscape lighting will be installed on pillars, power distribution boxes, and surrounding facilities, turning them into art pieces. Plans include laser-cut letter patterns on pillars, projection of blue cosmic and constellation images on the ceilings of structures to create a fantastic artistic space, and bright, sensory spaces to enhance the surrounding image.

The district plans to apply the design guidelines considering the characteristics of six zones including Sanggye, Junggye, Hagye, Gongneung, and Wolgye. It reflects both weaknesses and strengths of the area, such as the aging of a planned city developed over 30 years ago, the high apartment ratio of 83% of all housing, abundant green spaces like Suraksan and Bulamsan, waterfront spaces along Jungnangcheon and Danghyeoncheon, and cultural spaces in the center of Nowon.

To reference in preparing the public design guidelines, the district conducted a survey last June targeting 500 residents divided by age and region. The survey included 15 questions on urgent urban design policy tasks and future urban development directions, with in-depth investigation and analysis. Cases from other Seoul districts and nearby Japan were also referenced.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “Public design is also related to the identity of the city,” and added, “We will do our best to build the image of Nowon-gu by applying user-centered guidelines that reflect the characteristics of the region.”

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