Creation of Indoor Garden at Mapo District Office

[Seoul District News] Mapo-gu Reborn as Green Space Harmonizing Trees, Plants, and Flowers: 1st Floor Lobby, Eoullim Madang, and Basement 1 Planted with Location-Specific Flora... Gangnam-gu Opens First Converged Nuribom Center and Nonhyeon·Jagok Centers, Total 11 Established... Jungnang-gu Opens 3rd Branch of Myeonmok 4-dong Our Neighborhood Care Center... Nowon Regional Self-Support Center Opens... Jung-gu Selected as Seoul's Best District for Import Quantity Management System

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Mapo, planting trees outside the government building and creating an indoor garden inside”

Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun), which is carrying out the ‘5 Million Trees Planting Project’ until 2027, has created an indoor garden inside the government building.

This indoor garden project, conducted as a matching project between Mapo-gu, the Korea Forest Service, and Seoul City, began construction in December last year and was unveiled to citizens in March this year.

The previously calm gray marble government building has transformed into a green space that gives a bright and refreshing feeling, harmonizing trees, plants, and flowers.

The lobby, which you encounter upon entering the main gate, is the place most frequently seen by citizens using the government building, and it has been decorated as the main garden. Using eight types of plants including large-leafed Bird of Paradise, a tropical garden was created, and a flower bed decorated with Cymbidium, a type of Western orchid known for its splendid flowers, serves as a photo zone for visitors to the building.

Next to the information desk you meet after passing the main gate, a Media Wall promoting Mapo and the surrounding wall plants harmoniously attract attention.

On the first floor, which receives relatively less light, the Eoullim Madang area has been planted with 16 types of dry-area plants such as Yucca, which are resistant to dryness and cold, and five types of fern family plants including Boston fern that can survive in low-light spaces, harmonizing with the existing aquarium.

The basement first floor, where the cafeteria and cafe are located and frequently visited by residents, has transformed into a healing space where palm trees and plants placed beside pillars naturally act as partitions, allowing visitors to enjoy a relaxing cup of tea.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I hope visitors to the Mapo-gu government building find comfort for their mind and body by seeing the indoor garden,” and added, “We will form a dedicated management team to ensure this is not a one-time indoor garden project and continue to provide a high-quality eco-friendly resting space.”

◆Mapo-gu Personnel ▲General Affairs Division Chief Jo Man-ho ▲Basic Livelihood Security Team Leader Kim Seong-hee (effective April 1)

Ilwondong Nuribom Center

Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) has opened three additional ‘Dahamtogether Care Centers’ for elementary school students’ after-school care this year.

Gangnam-gu opened Nonhyeon Care Center in Nonhyeon 2-dong on the 18th, and Nuribom Care Center on the first floor of Ilwon Sports Culture Center on the 21st, with Jagok Care Center on the first floor of Jagok Culture Center scheduled to open in April.

The district started the first center, Taehwa Care Center in Suseo-dong, including a class for children with developmental disabilities, in April 2019, the first in the nation. Up to last year, eight centers including Yeoksam and Cheongdam were opened, and with the three centers opening this year, a total of 11 centers will be operated.

In particular, ‘Nuribom Care Center’ located on the first floor of Ilwon Sports Culture Center is Gangnam-gu’s first integrated care center, featuring ▲the largest area of 685㎡ (207 pyeong) among Seoul’s autonomous districts ▲free lunch and dinner ▲morning, evening, and Saturday gap care services, serving as a hub for elementary school care in the area.

Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “During the 7th local government term, Gangnam-gu has received great responses from parents by opening three Dahamtogether Care Centers and the third public indoor playground this year, creating a safe care environment,” adding, “We will do our best to expand care centers where children enjoy and parents can entrust their children with peace of mind, making Gangnam a happy city and a great city to raise children.”

Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) opened the 3rd Our Neighborhood Care Center in Myeonmok 4-dong and held an opening ceremony on the 28th.

The 3rd Our Neighborhood Care Center is located within the Ssangyong The Platinum Yongmasan apartment complex in Myeonmok 4-dong.

Our Neighborhood Care Centers provide after-school care services for elementary school students aged 6 to 12 from dual-income families regardless of income, offering self-directed learning and creative programs after school.

The 3rd center has one director and one care teacher on site, with a capacity of 22 for regular care and 4 for temporary care. Operating hours are from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the school term and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during vacations.

Those wishing to use the service must apply in advance online via the Our Neighborhood Care Portal (icare.seoul.go.kr).

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “I am pleased that the opening of the 3rd Our Neighborhood Care Center increases spaces where parents in dual-income families can entrust their children with peace of mind,” adding, “We will continue to expand childcare and educational institutions and programs to create a childcare environment where the whole community participates, not just individuals.”

3rd Floor Training Room

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) opened the Nowon Regional Self-Support Center in Sanggye 2-dong on the 29th to provide systematic self-support services to low-income vulnerable residents.

The Nowon Regional Self-Support Center was selected as a pilot project institution for the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s self-support center and has been operating since 1996, providing jobs and supporting independence for low-income residents below the near-poverty line who have work ability but are marginalized in the labor market.

The existing building was old and cramped, limiting program operations, and the separation of offices and classrooms caused accessibility issues for users. Therefore, the district promoted the construction of a new center to improve the working environment and accessibility.

The newly opened center at 99-3 Hangulbiseok-ro 47-gil, Sanggye 2-dong, is a building with a total floor area of 659.85㎡, consisting of one basement floor and three above-ground floors. The first floor is used as Bulam Senior Center, and the self-support center occupies the basement first floor and the second and third floors above ground.

The basement first floor includes a multipurpose room that can be used as a conference room; the second floor has office spaces and counseling rooms; and the third floor houses classrooms and a resource room, enabling comprehensive self-support services.

The center operates various types of projects such as social service type, market entry type, and intern/helper type, with 223 residents participating in 19 projects according to their work ability.

Recently, it started operating an emotional support team. It distributes companion fish (tropical fish) or companion plants to low-income elderly living alone, trains management personnel, and carries out job creation for self-support along with community return activities.

Going forward, the center plans to provide comprehensive self-support services from education and counseling to job placement, discovering new projects that meet the diverse work desires of residents and the needs of the local community simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the district cooperates with three regional self-support centers in the area?Nowon Regional Self-Support Center, Nowon Northern Regional Self-Support Center, and Nowon Southern Regional Self-Support Center?providing self-support jobs to 625 low-income residents through 51 projects and supporting their independence.

The ‘Back Alley Cleaning Self-Support Work Team’ organized by the district and the self-support centers had 108 participants last year, covering cleaning gaps throughout all 19 neighborhoods. This has been highly praised by residents as it simultaneously expands job welfare and creates clean alleys.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “I hope the regional self-support centers will greatly help motivate vulnerable residents to work and improve their independence,” adding, “We will continue to discover specialized projects tailored to local characteristics with the centers to build a healthy welfare system.”

Jung-gu (Mayor Seo Yang-ho) was selected as the best district in the waste input management project conducted by Seoul City last year.

On the 29th, Jung-gu announced that it was selected as the best district among 25 districts in the ‘2021 Seoul City Autonomous District Waste Input Management’ evaluation, securing an incentive of about 360 million KRW.

In particular, last year Jung-gu’s waste generation was 57,155 tons, nearly 8,000 tons less than the target of 65,045 tons, achieving an input rate of 87.9%. Jung-gu was the only district in Seoul to reduce the input rate by more than 10%. Considering that from 2017 to 2019, Jung-gu ranked third highest in household waste generation in Seoul, this is a remarkable result.

Seoul City plans to provide differentiated incentives to six districts that achieved reduction targets (Jung-gu, Jongno-gu, Seongdong-gu, Seongbuk-gu, Dongjak-gu, Seocho-gu), and support Jung-gu with the highest amount of 364 million KRW in waste input fees.

Jung-gu attributes this achievement to various efforts made in preparation for future waste problems.

In October last year, it opened ‘Saerom Waste Research Institute,’ a specialized education facility for solving waste problems, educating residents about the seriousness of environmental pollution and various eco-friendly product trainings. ‘Saerom’ plays a key role in helping residents develop habits of using eco-friendly products in daily life and continuously practicing them.

Additionally, since 2020, the district has operated village clean coordinators to introduce residents to household waste disposal methods and support separation and disposal practices, and continues efforts to reduce disposable products in the public sector and implement designated days for disposing of waste vinyl and PET bottles.

The district plans to further improve the separation and disposal system and expand resource circulation by installing resident-friendly IoT paper pack collection boxes, automatic collection box point accumulation, and exchange of recycling volume-based bags.

Meanwhile, the waste input management system promoted by Seoul City since 2020 sets annual reduction targets for each autonomous district based on household waste generation and provides incentives or penalties depending on achievement. Its importance is further emphasized as the metropolitan landfill site in Incheon will become unusable by 2025.

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