Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang, "I Will Listen to Citizens' Voices"... Keeping Promise for 3 Years

From July 22 in Daehwa-dong to December 26 in Samsong 2-dong
Successful communication meetings with residents of 44 neighborhoods in Goyang City
Received a total of 211 suggestions including expansion of public convenience facilities, urban environment improvement, parking, and traffic issue resolution... Shared key policies and progress updates

Goyang Special City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Dong-hwan) holds annual communication meetings to directly listen to residents' inconveniences and major local issues on-site and reflect them in city administration. The 2024 communication meetings with residents, now in their third year, began on July 22 in Daehwa-dong, Ilsanseo-gu, and concluded on December 26 in Samsong 2-dong, Deogyang-gu.

Mayor Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang Special City conducting the first communication meeting with residents of Daehwa-dong this year on July 22. Provided by Goyang Special City

Mayor Lee Dong-hwan of Goyang Special City stated, "We had valuable time visiting all 44 neighborhoods of Goyang City to listen to residents' diverse opinions and think together," adding, "Since communication is the driving force behind city administration, we will continue to create changes that citizens can feel through policies that incorporate voices from the field."

During the 44 communication meetings held this year, a total of 211 suggestions were received. The topics included expansion of public facilities (68 cases), urban environment improvement (53 cases), parking and traffic improvements (40 cases), and disaster prevention and safety (20 cases), in that order.

To resolve daily inconveniences, most residents requested the expansion of bus routes, and some suggested the installation of bus stops. Requests were also made for repairing aging sidewalks, road widening, repairing old exercise equipment in village parks, and installing public restrooms.

Communication meeting with residents of Gobong-dong on December 16. Provided by Goyang Special City

There were also many opinions asking to solve the chronic parking problems, and suggestions to build or relocate separate offices to address the lack of space in the narrow neighborhood administrative welfare centers.

Mayor Lee responded that parts that can be immediately addressed, such as facility maintenance, will be handled promptly. However, projects requiring large budgets, such as road widening, will be prioritized and implemented step-by-step considering the city's financial conditions.

In particular, regarding the expansion of bus routes, while empathizing with residents experiencing inconvenience, he emphasized that since the annual bus subsidy budget approaches 80 billion KRW, it is necessary not only to simply expand routes but also to comprehensively review all bus routes within the city.

Communication meeting with residents of Jungsan 1-dong on December 16 last year. Provided by Goyang Special City

Meanwhile, to ensure the safety of vehicles and pedestrians, the city plans to secure a road width of at least 10 meters and pedestrian paths of at least 3 meters for newly constructed roads, and to replace existing used paving blocks with large paving blocks that can be continuously used, thereby enhancing convenience and reducing costs.

Following the expansion of public convenience facilities, the issue with many resident suggestions was urban environment improvement. Among these, requests for riverside environment maintenance were the most frequent, along with complaints about livestock odor problems. Various opinions were also presented, including strengthening smoking bans and enforcement, installing pet waste bag dispensers, and creating specialized streets.

The city plans to use the 2025 budget to regularly carry out weeding on riverside bicycle and embankment roads and is also considering creating walking trails and planting trees.

Communication meeting with residents of Seongsa 2-dong on December 19 last year. Provided by Goyang Special City

Regarding the odor from livestock farms in the Gusan-dong and Gajwa-dong areas, the city is regularly checking the normal operation of livestock manure purification facilities and the quality of discharged water, and plans to actively encourage farm owners to replace filters and clean the purification facilities internally.

Additionally, residents voiced strong concerns about flood prevention measures following sudden heavy rains last summer. There were many requests to prepare flood prevention measures for low-lying areas in the city, including Tanhyeon 2 District, which recently experienced flood damage, and Heungdo-dong.

The city plans to install an underground storage tank with a capacity of 19,900㎥ under Sutgogae Park in Tanhyeon-dong to cope with rainfall with a 50-year return period, expand the Gangmae drainage pump station, and enlarge the retention basin of the Sinpyeong drainage pump station to increase drainage capacity. It is also expanding the installation of automatic entry blocking facilities in underground roads within the city and plans to pilot operate evacuation facilities that allow quick escape during floods.

On December 26th, the last communication meeting with residents of Samsong 2-dong was held this year. Provided by Goyang Special City

Meanwhile, the communication meetings also shared major city policies and progress.

Mayor Lee Dong-hwan said, "Goyang City was designated as a pilot area for education development special zones in February and as a venture business promotion district in October. We expect that if the ongoing economic free zone designation project is successfully completed, the synergy between these projects will be maximized."

He added, "We will continue to devote all our passion to the sustainable growth of Goyang City and the improvement of residents' quality of life," and "Please look forward to and watch the moment when our efforts bear fruit."

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