Seongbuk-gu Establishes 'Odong Neighborhood Park Book Shelter'... Dongjak-gu Recruits 35 Households for Youth Customized Public Housing

[Seoul District News] Seongbuk-gu Promotes Creation of Healing Complex Book Shelter in Odong Neighborhood Park Popular with Many Visitors, Expected to Serve as Family-Friendly Community Space... Dongjak-gu Prioritizes Supply of 35 Youth Public Housing Units and 1 Unit for Formerly Protected Children, Lease Period 2 Years with Up to 6 Years Possible at 50% Market Rent... Yeongdeungpo-gu Selected for 'Virtual Reality Sports Room Contest Project' Providing Sports Space Free from External Environmental Constraints like Fine Dust and Heatwaves... Dobong-gu Opens Choansan Dog Playground

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) announced on the 7th that it will begin construction of the 'Odong Neighborhood Park Book Rest Area Project,' a complex community space within Odong Neighborhood Park, a representative living area park frequented by many visitors.

The Odong Neighborhood Park Book Rest Area (including a book cafe and program operations) is part of the 'Book Rest Area Creation Project in Parks' promoted under the overall plan of Seoul City. The project is funded with 1.9 billion KRW from the city and is located at San 2-41, Hawolgok-dong (Odong Neighborhood Park). It will be a one-story building with a total floor area of 428.75㎡ (129 pyeong), aiming for completion in August.

The Odong Neighborhood Park Book Rest Area utilizes the excellent natural environment of the forest to create a reading space where visitors can enjoy books in the woods, fostering sound cultural values. It goes beyond the simple book viewing and lending functions of traditional libraries by providing a people-centered healing complex service with a book cafe and community spaces.

The district plans to enhance operational expertise by entrusting management to specialized institutions for efficient future operation of the book rest area. It also expects to actively recruit volunteers living near Odong Park and utilize the space as a communication venue for various local events.

A Seongbuk-gu official stated, “The establishment of the book rest area in Odong Neighborhood Park located in Seongbuk-gu is expected to serve as a complex space for communication and healing where various generations can comfortably rest and recharge in the forest.” He added, “Odong Neighborhood Park will be reborn as a space where both body and mind can be nurtured, connected with existing facilities such as the barrier-free forest trail (Jarak-gil), Seongbuk-gu Sports Center, and artificial turf soccer field.”

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Lee Chang-woo) is supplying 35 units of ‘Youth Customized Public Housing’ (48 Sadang-ro 2-gil) to support housing stability for young people without homes and has begun recruiting tenants.

This housing is a ‘Demand-tailored Public Housing’ project promoted through collaboration between the district and SH Corporation. The district is responsible for ▲housing type proposals and ▲tenant selection, while SH Corporation handles ▲housing acquisition, ▲contract management, and ▲building defects and repairs.

The youth housing supplied this time is located within a 10-minute walk from Namsung Station on Line 7 and is near three major universities?Soongsil University, Chung-Ang University, and Chongshin University?as well as the Seoul Digital Industrial Complex, home to about 7,600 companies, providing a convenient live-work location.

The rental period is basically 2 years, extendable up to 6 years. Each unit offers a net floor area of 29.95 to 29.99㎡ and is supplied at about 50% of market rent to reduce housing cost burdens. The rental deposit and monthly rent vary according to average monthly income.

Eligibility requires applicants to be members of a non-home-owning household with average monthly income below 70% of the standard by household size as of the announcement date, residing in Seoul or working/studying for at least 3 months in Dongjak-gu at a workplace, public office, or academy. Applicants must be youth aged 19 to 39 or university students in Seoul.

Additionally, to support independent living for youth exiting child welfare facilities, one unit is preferentially supplied to youth leaving such facilities. Applicants who fail to qualify for preferential supply will be automatically converted to general supply without a separate application.

Youth wishing to move in can apply by submitting the application and required documents via email to Dongjak-gu from March 14 to 16. After screening, tenants will be selected and announced on the Dongjak-gu Office website after 5 p.m. on June 24.

Details can be found in the notices section of the Dongjak-gu Office website, and inquiries can be made to the Housing Division.

Meanwhile, since the 6th local government term, the district has been promoting the ‘Dongjak-gu Type Public Housing’ project led by the autonomous district to realize universal housing welfare. Starting with the supply of 26 units of mother-child safety housing in Sangdo 3-dong in 2015, a total of 440 units have been supplied by last year, with an additional 185 units secured this year.

Han Sang-hyuk, head of the Housing Division, said, “With the serious real estate issues these days, we will do our best to continuously supply public housing to ensure housing stability for local residents.”

Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) was selected in February for the ‘2022 Virtual Reality Sports Room Installation Support Project in Public Sports Facilities’ announced by Seoul City.

Recently, as the work-life balance culture emphasizing balance between work and life spreads, many people want to enjoy exercise during their personal time. However, outdoor sports activities face many restrictions due to spring yellow dust, year-round fine dust, and extreme weather changes such as heatwaves, heavy rain, and severe cold.

As a countermeasure, Seoul City held a project contest targeting 25 autonomous districts to create spaces using Virtual Reality (VR) technology where anyone can enjoy sports activities without external environmental constraints. As a result, two districts including Yeongdeungpo-gu were finally selected.

With this selection, the district secured 35 million KRW from the city and will promote the project in earnest in the second half of this year with a total budget of 70 million KRW, including 35 million KRW from the district.

The project site is Yeongdeungpo 2nd Sports Center (615 Gukhoe-daero). The district plans to transform the 3rd-floor cultural lecture room into a virtual reality sports room and create a space where residents can enjoy sports activities integrated with 4th industrial technologies.

Furthermore, the district intends for the VR sports room not to be just a simple experience space but to become a place for continuous physical and mental training and leisure, offering various content reflecting the latest sports trends.

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Chae Hyun-il said, “As the importance of leisure and self-development grows and demand for various recreational sports increases, we aim to create a space where people can exercise regardless of the season or weather.” He added, “Through the newly created virtual reality sports room, we will do our best to realize an open Yeongdeungpo-gu leading the future direction of sports development.”

Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) reopened the ‘Pet Dog Playground’ located in the Changgol Soccer Field yard within Choan Mountain Neighborhood Park on the 2nd after winter maintenance.

Dobong-gu established and directly operates the ‘Choan Mountain Pet Dog Playground’ in 2018, covering about 800㎡. It is a space where dog owners and their pets can freely run and play together, and anyone can use it free of charge.

Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, extended by one hour to 8 p.m. during the busy summer months from June to September. It is closed every Monday and also closed during rain or when necessary due to COVID-19.

Only dogs registered under the ‘Animal Registration’ system can use the playground, and owners aged 13 or older must accompany them. Owners must bring waste bags and leashes. If the owner is under 13 years old (a child), they must enter with an adult guardian for safety.

For safety and to prevent dog bite accidents, access is divided by size based on breed or height of 40 cm. However, dogs with diseases, unregistered dogs, or designated dangerous breeds such as Dosa dogs and Rottweilers under the Animal Protection Act are prohibited.

Visitors are also informed to comply with related laws such as animal registration, leash use, and waste disposal. Especially in May-June and September-October, the district plans to invite animal behavior veterinarians and animal law experts to operate ‘Pet Dog Culture Classes’ at the playground.

Dobong-gu Mayor Lee Dong-jin said, “I hope the pet dog playground becomes a place for education fostering a mature pet culture and a venue for information exchange among dog owners. We will continue to develop it as a healing space where residents can spend safer and happier times with their pets.”

Thanks to efforts such as operating the pet dog playground, animal registration system, outsourcing private animal protection centers, inviting experts for animal education, and activities of honorary animal protection monitors, the number of abandoned animals in Dobong-gu has been halved over five years (331 cases in 2017 to 161 cases in 2021).

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