The Former Dongbuchi Mountain Office Transformed into a Gyeongnam Residents' Communication Space After 35 Years... 'Maru' Opening Ceremony on the 31st

Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Community Revitalization Foundation Project' Reborn

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The ‘Gyeongsangnam-do Eastern Mountain Management Office,’ which was operated to prevent landslides and other disasters, is returning to the people of Gyeongnam after 35 years.

On the 30th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Gyeongsangnam-do announced that they will hold the opening ceremony of the Gyeongnam Citizen Participation Platform ‘Maru,’ which will serve as a communication space for the people of Gyeongnam, on the 31st. Established in 1986 as a forest management agency, the Gyeongnam Eastern Mountain Management Office was abolished in 1993 and left as an idle space, but it is being reborn through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Community Revitalization Infrastructure Project.’

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is promoting the ‘Community Revitalization Infrastructure Project’ to transform public idle and underutilized spaces into hubs for resident activities. Since the pilot project began in 2018, a total budget of 152.3 billion KRW has been invested to create and operate 73 spaces across 17 cities and provinces.

‘Maru,’ the first to open in the Gyeongnam region, has been created by fully remodeling the existing building into a total floor area of 867.95㎡, consisting of one basement floor and three above-ground floors. It will serve as a public interest activity support center by increasing local social innovation demand, discovering and solving regional issues, and building networks among civil society.

Additionally, the meeting rooms and seminar rooms on the upper floors, as well as the audiovisual room and multipurpose room in the basement, will be widely open to residents and used as communication spaces for the people of Gyeongnam. Various programs will be operated together, making it an experimental space to enhance residents’ autonomous capabilities.

The government selected the name ‘Maru’ through a public contest targeting residents, and a public-private task force composed of residents, non-profit organizations, and experts actively reflected residents’ opinions throughout the entire creation process, from space planning to design. Furthermore, by utilizing the public architect system, expert advice was provided on space composition and design to enhance the building’s public nature and add meaning with a design that harmonizes with the surrounding landscape.

Park Seong-ho, Director of the Local Autonomy and Decentralization Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “We hope that the Gyeongnam Citizen Participation Platform ‘Maru,’ opening today, will serve as a community living room for residents, form and expand networks in the local community, and become a channel connecting diversity.” He added, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will do its best to help so that the region’s diversity and experimental policies can shine.”

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