Gangbuk-gu Renovates Samyang Youth Center Tailored for Youth... Nowon-gu Declares a Trash-Free City

[Seoul District News] Gangbuk-gu to Hold Space Design Workshop at Samyang Youth Center on the 11th at 7 PM to Share Youth Opinions on Space Creation; Samyang Youth Center Home Furnishing in Progress... Nowon-gu Adds 'Weekend Cleaning Team' to Prevent Cleaning Gaps During Weekends; Special Mobile Unit Established for Cleaning Blind Spots in Green Belts, Traffic Islands, and Main Road Exits; Total Self-Support Workforce Expanded to 129 This Year... Jongno-gu's Snow Removal Measures Using Animation and IoT Draw Attention... Seodaemun-gu Offers Two Free Weekend Farms in Jangheung-myeon, Yangju-si...

Exterior view of Samyang Youth Hall Building 2

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Samyang Youth Center in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu (District Mayor Park Gyeom-su), is set to be renovated in collaboration with IKEA Korea.

The Samyang Youth Center is a youth hub space in Samyang-dong, remodeled from a vacant house to support young people's cultural and artistic activities and to provide self-reliance plans for youth.

The district announced that, marking its third year this year, the Samyang Youth Center will be redesigned to reflect the preferences of young people through a 'Space Design Workshop' to be held at 7 p.m. on the 11th. The workshop will take place at the Samyang Youth Center 2nd Hall, located at 3-10 Solmae-ro, Gangbuk-gu (Mia-dong), in partnership with global home furnishing retail company IKEA Korea.

During this workshop, young people interested in the Samyang Youth Center will gather to design the space themselves and share ideas with Anton Hawk, IKEA Korea's interior design leader. IKEA Korea stated that they will bring in furniture based on the ideas generated here to decorate the space and create a better environment with various home furnishings.

Park Gyeom-su, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, "I hope this workshop will allow young people to directly transform the Samyang Youth Center into a space that receives even more love," adding, "We will also prepare spaces for local residents in addition to the youth community to strengthen communication."

Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is strengthening its cleaning administration system to improve residential environments and urban aesthetics.

Last year, the district was recognized for its systematic cleaning administration by ranking first among 25 autonomous districts in Seoul in the '2021 Urban Cleanliness Evaluation.' The secret to the district's success lies in strictly preventing illegal dumping and promptly removing any discovered trash. Building on last year's achievements, the district plans to eliminate cleaning blind spots more meticulously this year.

A notable aspect is the active utilization of self-support labor personnel. Since 2019, the district has placed self-support laborers at cleaning sites through an agreement with the local self-support center. By 2021, 115 self-support cleaning workers were deployed across 19 neighborhoods, covering most of the previous cleaning blind spots.

This year, the workforce will expand to 129, with the additional personnel operating as a weekend cleaning team and a special task force responsible for cleaning blind spots.

Key focus areas for this concentrated deployment include Suraksan Station Design Street, Hwarangdae Station Light Garden, Deokneung Tunnel, and arterial road exits. The weekend cleaning team will be assigned to Suraksan Design Street, where illegal dumping is frequent during weekends, to prevent cleaning gaps on holidays. Immediate removal of trash aims to prevent the 'broken window effect,' where neglected trash leads to further environmental degradation.

The special task force for cleaning blind spots will manage areas such as the entrance to Deokneung Tunnel, the exit of Dongbu Arterial Road, green belts, and traffic islands?zones with heavy vehicle traffic and difficult cleaning access. These areas serve as entry and exit points into Nowon from other regions, so cleaning here is expected to significantly improve the landscape and enhance the city's clean image. A total of nine self-support laborers will be assigned to this task force.

Additionally, systematic management will be implemented for 'Resident Priority Parking Lots,' which have frequently experienced complaints due to habitual illegal dumping. The district operates 144 such parking lots with 1,990 spaces across 16 neighborhoods, with some sections in seven neighborhoods identified as habitual dumping and complaint hotspots.

To address this, the district has assigned 14 self-support labor participants to form a dedicated team for cleaning these parking lots. For areas outside the seven habitual dumping zones, the Nowon-gu Service Corporation's environmental maintenance team, which manages the parking lots under contract, will collaborate to establish a cooperative system. As a result, since the implementation of enhanced cleaning measures in January following 64 illegal dumping complaints last year, no such complaints have been reported.

The district expects that the additional deployment of self-support personnel will stabilize the cleaning administration system steadily built since 2018. Existing effective cleaning policies such as daily trash collection, immediate removal, and strengthened real-time monitoring will continue to be operated.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, "The war against trash, started with the belief that a clean neighborhood fosters community pride, is now reaching its final stage," adding, "Since cleaning administration is closely connected to residents' daily lives, we will continue to do our best to create a clean and pleasant residential environment."

Jongno-gu has successfully completed the '2021/2022 Winter Snow Removal Comprehensive Plan,' which includes the use of animation and the introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

This comprehensive snow removal plan focused on spreading a 'culture of clearing snow in front of one's home' within the community and restoring a 'sense of community with future generations.'

Accordingly, the district developed a snow removal character familiar to children and produced promotional animations such as 'Enjoyable Snow Clearing with Jongno-gu? Torongi's Adventure to a Strange Land,' which have been provided since 2019 to other local governments including Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon.

To comfort residents facing the double hardship of severe cold and prolonged COVID-19, the district created related products featuring the Torongi character, including eco-bags, children's character face masks, and character badges.

These character products were distributed to children in local daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary schools after they watched the Torongi animation. This initiative helps growing students naturally learn the importance of community by experiencing the process of clearing snow together and helping each other.

In addition, Jongno-gu actively introduced IoT technology to enhance snow removal effectiveness.

Along with CCTV networks, remote brine sprayers, and IoT snow removal boxes, the district established three regional snow removal forward bases and deployed staff who have been steadily training since last summer.

A district official stated, "We will continue to develop effective measures to improve snow removal efficiency to ensure that residents and citizens passing through Jongno do not experience inconvenience."

Seodaemun-gu (District Mayor Moon Seok-jin) will operate free weekend farms from April to November this year, allowing residents to experience eco-friendly farming during their leisure time and providing agricultural cultivation education.

The farms are located at Yeoul Farm (52-57 Ilyeong-ro 502beon-gil) and Nogosan Farm (108-33 Ilyeong-ro 502beon-gil) in Jangheung-myeon, Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Residents of Seodaemun-gu and local workers can apply. Applicants can download the application form (posted at 9 a.m. on March 14) from the Seodaemun-gu website's notice section, fill it out, and submit it via email.

Residents aged 65 or older may submit applications via fax or visit the 8th floor of the Social Economy Division in the district office's 3rd annex building. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis from 9 a.m. on March 14 to 6 p.m. on March 18. Early closure may occur if applications reach capacity.

There are 200 plots available, with 100 plots each for Saturday and Sunday groups. Each household may apply for only one plot (16.5㎡).

Participants will cultivate crops using a 3-no (no pesticides, no fertilizers, no ground cover plastic) eco-friendly farming method.

To support this, seven eco-friendly crop cultivation education sessions will be held from April to July, and five sessions from August to November. Outside of these, participants may manage their gardens independently. Those attending at least five sessions in the first half of the year may continue cultivation in the second half.

Use of the garden plots, participation in education, shared farming tools such as shovels, and agricultural water are free of charge. However, personal farming tools like hoes, seeds, seedlings, compost, and natural pest control products must be prepared individually.

The opening ceremonies are scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 2 for the Saturday group and 10 a.m. on April 3 for the Sunday group.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, "I hope many residents will show interest and participate in the weekend farm experience, which offers the joy of harvest, leisure activities, and opportunities for eco-friendly education."

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