Incheon Bupyeong-gu Selected as Best Local Government for 'Deliberation-Based Resident Participation'

'Cooperation and Dispute Resolution' Best Local Government Awarded to Gwangju Gwangsan-gu

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Bupyeong-gu in Incheon and Gwangsan-gu in Gwangju have been selected as the best local governments in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s categories of ‘Deliberation-based Resident Participation’ and ‘Cooperation and Dispute Resolution,’ respectively.

On the 14th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that Bupyeong-gu’s case of ‘Scenario Joint Discussion (Workshop) for Commercial Area Revitalization and Pedestrian Environment Improvement, and Resolution of Public Conflicts Related to the Extension of Bupyeong Cultural Street’ was selected as the best case in the ‘Deliberation-based Resident Participation’ category.

As part of the Urban Regeneration New Deal project, Bupyeong-gu conducted scenario joint discussions (workshops) with community members to resolve conflicts regarding the extension project of Bupyeong Cultural Street. Through this, they reached an optimal agreement for commercial area revitalization, safe school routes, and a clean pedestrian environment. Residents with differing interests, such as parents and merchant associations, determined an appropriate sidewalk width through discussions, increasing policy acceptance and laying the foundation for a culture of public deliberation, which received high praise.

For the ‘Local Government Cooperation and Dispute Resolution’ category, Gwangsan-gu in Gwangju was selected for its establishment of a ‘Neighbor Conflict Mediation System’ based on voluntary agreements among residents. Gwangsan-gu uses this system to mediate conflicts early to prevent neighbor disputes such as noise between floors and parking issues from escalating into serious social problems like community breakdown. The district received high evaluation for laying the groundwork for neighbor conflict mediation and spreading a culture of communication through training neighbor conflict mediators among apartment resident leaders, forming a conflict mediation committee, drafting apartment resident autonomous agreements, and organizing and operating local neighbor conflict mediators.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to compile the excellent cases from the eight local governments awarded in this competition into a best practices collection, distribute it to local governments nationwide, and post it on the Ministry’s website.

Seung-dae Ahn, Director of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Local Autonomy and Decentralization Policy Division, said, “The importance of active resident participation and communication, as well as cooperation among local governments, is increasingly growing to secure administrative reliability and prevent conflicts during policy formulation and implementation by local governments. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will continue to actively support strengthening region-led cooperation and dispute resolution capabilities.”

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