Seocho 1-Person Household Support Center Relocates and Expands from Banpo to Yangjae-ro

Seminar Room, Cooking Room, Community Room, Private Zone, Solo Room, Counseling Room, etc. Established... Responding to requests for space securing and comfortable areas due to increasing demand from single-person households

Seocho-gu, the first local government in the country to establish the ‘Seocho Single-Person Household Support Center,’ is expanding its scale to promote comprehensive policies for single-person households.

Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) will relocate the Seocho Single-Person Household Support Center (hereafter ‘the Center’) from the existing Banpo 1-dong Community Service Center to the 4th floor of Yangjae Public Parking Lot on the 19th.

The Center’s total floor area is 607㎡, more than 10 times larger than the previous size (55㎡). The space includes ▲ seminar room ▲ cooking room ▲ community rooms (2) ▲ private zone ▲ alone room ▲ counseling room, making it the largest single-person household support center among Seoul’s autonomous districts.

This expansion and relocation respond to the increasing demand for health, safety, and welfare services for single-person households, as well as requests to provide a comfortable space where they can rest and enjoy themselves. As of September this year, single-person households in the district number 59,299, accounting for about 35% of all households.

With this expansion, the district plans to maximize the advantages of the diverse spaces to offer a comfortable environment for single-person households, providing various cultural, health, and safety services such as lectures and club activities.

The district intends to focus on counseling services preferred by single-person households. The specialized counseling, which previously only included legal advice, will be expanded to cover financial and tax counseling, and group programs using professional psychological assessments will also be operated.

Considering that the largest age group among single-person households in the area is young adults (46%), a ‘Private Zone’ has been created for them. This area features one-person booths with warm lighting and a cozy atmosphere for laptop work or reading, two four-person tables for conversations, and six window seats. Additionally, it is the only center among Seoul’s autonomous districts to have an ‘Alone Room,’ subtitled ‘Rest Here 家,’ a space where individuals can freely and comfortably rest for themselves.

Furthermore, classes favored by single-person households such as ▲ organizing and tidying classes ▲ cooking classes (baking and pet baking) ▲ rattan crafts, as well as club meetings using the community rooms, will be actively promoted.

Currently, the district operates various projects for single-person households covering health, safety, daily life, and relational care. Representative projects include the ‘Smart Care Plug,’ a safety device to prevent solitary deaths, and the ‘Anmu Check-in Service,’ which sends regular voice messages followed by visit confirmations as part of health care. Since March this year, the ‘Digital Door Lock Installation’ project has been running to enhance safety care for single-person households vulnerable to crime.

To commemorate the Center’s expansion and relocation, an opening ceremony will be held around 6:30 PM on the 19th. The event will feature a ‘Single Talk Talk Concert’ to inspire positivity among single-person households, an acoustic band performance, and a ‘Making Experience’ activity to revitalize weary lives.

Lounge

Especially at the ‘Single Talk Talk Concert,’ Tyler Rasch, who appeared on TV programs ‘Non-Summit’ and ‘Problematic Men,’ will participate as a special lecturer to share his perspectives on Korea and his challenging life as a foreign single-person household member with the attendees.

The Seocho Single-Person Household Support Center operates from 9 AM to 9 PM on weekdays. However, on Mondays and Fridays, it operates from 9 AM to 6 PM, and on Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “With the expansion and relocation of this Center, it will become a hub for culture, health, and safety for Seocho’s single-person households,” adding, “We will continue to create a ‘Happy Seocho where even alone, we are together’ through customized support for single-person households.”

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