Seong Lee, Guro-gu Mayor, "Will Do My Best to Create a Smart and Green City During the Remaining Term"

Focused on urban infrastructure development during the 5th and 6th local administrations... Achieved significant results in flood prevention, childcare, libraries, and jobs... The 7th administration established Anyangcheon Ecological Flower Garden, Cheonwangsan Family Camping Site, and implemented various smart projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “Thanks to the residents who have trusted and supported me for a long time, I was able to become the first three-term mayor of Guro-gu. Just as I have run focusing solely on the residents for the past 11 years, I plan to do my best to create a smart and green city for Guro’s future during the remaining one year of my term.”

On July 1st, Lee Seong, mayor of Guro-gu, marking the 3rd anniversary of the 7th local government, shared his reflections and future determination.

Previously, Mayor Lee Seong, inaugurated as the 5th local government mayor in 2010, focused on expanding the insufficient urban infrastructure.

Guro-gu residents had suffered many inconveniences due to frequent flooding in the past. Especially during the 2010 Chuseok holiday, a record-breaking heavy rain caused severe damage with 2,311 households submerged.

Under Mayor Lee Seong’s direction, various flood prevention measures were implemented, including creating flood maps, assigning care officials to flood-vulnerable households, and large-scale sewer construction. As a result, Guro-gu shed its stigma as a habitual flood zone and stood tall as a ‘zero flood damage’ city for eight consecutive years.

Also, at a time when it was unfamiliar, he set “Guro as a good place to raise children” as his primary pledge and worked to improve childcare environments. The number of public and national daycare centers increased from 34 at the beginning of his term to 96 currently, with 16 Our Neighborhood Care Centers and 17 Guro-style all-day care centers operating.

Before Mayor Lee Seong’s inauguration, there were fewer than 40 libraries, but now the total has increased to 113, including the Guro Miracle Library in Sindorim-dong, ranking among the top in Seoul’s autonomous districts.

Mayor Lee explained, “With the belief that the future of the city lies in books, we have focused on building libraries, resulting in becoming a city of libraries.”

Moreover, by creating over 10,000 jobs annually, Guro-gu achieved a remarkable record of winning various job awards hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for 11 consecutive years. Notably, last year, it won the top prize for two consecutive years in the nationwide local government job awards, following 2019.

About ten years ago, Guro-gu was recognized as one of Seoul’s representative underdeveloped areas, but now it has become a truly urban city comparable to any other autonomous district.

Mayor Lee Seong defined the 7th local government term, following the 5th and 6th terms focused on infrastructure development, as a time to lay the foundation for Guro-gu’s future. In his inauguration speech in July 2018, he declared opening a new path for the future.

Since then, he has worked to create a green city where work and life harmonize, a smart industrial city with abundant jobs, a competitive education and cultural city, a regionally balanced development city, and a safer and warmer welfare city for residents’ future living environment.

Achievements include the construction of the Miracle Library, the Cheonwang Station Job Total Platform ‘Youth Dream’, riverside arboretum projects, the Hang-dong Sports Center, the Lifelong Education Center for People with Developmental Disabilities, the Smart City Virtual Experience Center, Cheonwangsan Family Camping Site, the redevelopment project of the old office building in Oryu 1-dong, the New Stay construction on the former cement factory site in Gaebong-dong, the Cheonwang-dong Youth Culture House, the G Tower development, the establishment of a smart safety management system for hazardous facilities, and certification as an intercultural city.

As of the end of last year, 75% of 89 pledged projects across five core areas were achieved. External recognition includes the Dasan Mokmin Grand Prize Presidential Award, the Best Local Autonomy Policy Competition Grand Prize, the Minister’s Award for All-day Care Policy, the Local Government Job Award, and the Manifesto Best Practice Competition Grand Prize.

Mayor Lee Seong is accelerating the establishment of Guro-gu’s urban identity by setting the milestone of a smart and green city.

Once filled with chimney smoke, Guro has now transformed into an advanced digital complex leading IT and knowledge-based industries. Based on the first-ever smart dedicated organization in a basic local government nationwide and Wi-Fi and IoT networks spread throughout the area, various life-oriented smart city projects are underway, including the ‘Smart Safety Management System for Hazardous Facilities,’ ‘Smart City Integrated Platform,’ ‘IoT Vulnerable Group Smart Safety Care Service,’ and ‘Smart Poles and Crosswalks.’

Green infrastructure is also being expanded by utilizing the abundant natural environment such as forests and rivers within the district.

In November 2019, the largest ecological flower garden in the southwestern region, covering a total area of 17,500㎡, was created on the idle land of Anyangcheon. Previously overgrown with reeds and weeds, the area now features rose gardens, wetlands, lawns, iris gardens, flower gardens, and rural experience centers. For residents’ convenience, solar-powered information boards, thatched pavilions, benches, and photo zones were installed.

In January this year, to systematically manage Anyangcheon, a business agreement for the ‘Anyangcheon Landmark Project’ was signed with three autonomous districts: Geumcheon, Yeongdeungpo, and Yangcheon. In May, the participating institutions expanded to include Gwangmyeong, Gunpo, Uiwang, and Anyang in Gyeonggi Province. They promised to share facilities within Anyangcheon, create a 100-ri rose and cherry blossom road, hold joint festivals, and set a joint goal to make Anyangcheon a national garden within the next five years.

Other projects include the Cheonwangsan Family Camping Site and Ecological Forest, Gaebong Retention Basin Ecological Park, and barrier-free trails on Maebongsan and Neunggolsan.

Mayor Lee Seong said, “I do not intend to just wrap things up until the last day,” adding, “I am willing to start any new project for Guro’s future.”

He concluded, “I will not waste even a single day to meet the trust and expectations of the residents.”

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