First Step Toward the '15-Minute City'... Busan City Confirms Selected Projects for the '15-Minute Living Zone Policy Contest'

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City held the main meeting of the ‘Policy Contest for the Establishment of a 15-Minute Living Zone’ Selection Committee on the 13th and finalized a total of 16 projects.

Following the project confirmation, the necessary follow-up procedures for each selected project will be promptly implemented.

The policy contest was conducted as part of the creation of ‘15-Minute City Busan,’ the first pledge pursued since Mayor Park Hyung-joon took office in May last year.

To improve citizens’ quality of life and respond to the climate crisis and digital transformation, the city supports 75% of the total project cost, excluding land acquisition costs, for three major areas: ▲15-minute living zone ▲digital smart ▲green infrastructure projects by autonomous districts and counties. The total project cost amounts to approximately 94.7 billion KRW.

The city secured a budget of 6.6 billion KRW this year to promote the policy contest and conducted a contest targeting autonomous districts and counties from the end of last year until April 22 this year, receiving a total of 53 projects from 16 districts and counties.

After the first review by 17 city-related departments, evaluation by the Empathy Policy Group, and preliminary review by subcommittees of the selection committee composed of 23 private experts, the final selected projects were confirmed at the main meeting of the selection committee held on the 13th.

The final selected projects include a total of 16 projects from 11 districts and counties.

Among them, five projects were selected in the complex living zone category, which supports up to 12 billion KRW per project, including Saha-gu’s ‘Salty Bridge Park Creation (Dae-ti Tunnel Entrance Upper Park)’ project. Eleven projects were selected in the neighborhood living zone category, which supports up to 3 billion KRW per project, including Nam-gu’s ‘Munhyeon 4-dong Open Complex Office Building Construction’ project.

By district and county, Nam-gu had the most with three projects, followed by Sasang-gu, Saha-gu, and Haeundae-gu with two projects each, and Jung-gu, Seo-gu, Yeongdo-gu, Dongnae-gu, Geumjeong-gu, Yeonje-gu, and Suyeong-gu with one project each.

By sector, the selected projects include three in welfare for youth, children, and the elderly; two in environment such as resource circulation and clean water; three in green spaces including urban parks and green space creation; two in public office complexification to improve space efficiency and resident convenience/accessibility; and six in pedestrian environment for vulnerable pedestrians such as inclined elevators and pedestrian-friendly roads.

The city stated, “Projects that urgently need improvement or expansion, are frequently requested by residents, and whose effects can be easily felt by residents were mainly selected.”

Following the selection, the city plans to carry out necessary follow-up procedures such as local finance investment project reviews in June and July and provide subsidies to the target autonomous districts and counties by the end of July.

While the actual project implementation will be handled by the respective autonomous districts and counties, to achieve the purpose of the policy contest and ensure project effectiveness, the selection committee will be converted into an advisory group to monitor the projects from the design stage.

The advisory group will check the application of universal design during the project implementation process by the autonomous districts and counties, compliance with the public design guidelines to be soon prepared by the city, and the development and operation direction of necessary content and programs for future operation.

Im Kyung-mo, Director of the Urban Planning Bureau of Busan City, said, “The contest is the city’s first large-scale contest project to create ‘15-Minute City Busan.’ This opportunity has great significance in partially resolving citizens’ daily inconveniences and taking a step forward in establishing 15-Minute City Busan.”

Director Im added, “In the future, the city and autonomous districts and counties will collaborate to designate living zones with significant ripple effects as pilot areas and expand projects that align with the vision of 15-Minute City Busan. We ask for citizens’ active interest and support.”

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