Yongin City Focuses on Becoming a 'Healthy City,' Doubling Public Swimming Pools from 7 to 15

Eight New Pools Planned, 137% Increase in Lanes
Lee Sangil: "Expanding Public Pools Will Improve Quality of Life"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province is expanding the number of public swimming pools to match the level of metropolitan cities. In addition to the seven currently operating facilities, the city plans to build eight more, aiming for a total of 15 public swimming pools.

According to Yongin City on September 18, the city is either constructing or planning to construct eight new public swimming pools. In terms of lanes, this amounts to 56 lanes. Compared to the existing seven public swimming pools with 41 lanes, this represents an increase of 137% in the number of lanes.

If the plan proceeds as scheduled, Yongin City will have 15 public swimming pools, surpassing Ulsan, a metropolitan city that currently has 14.

Since the start of the eighth popularly elected administration, the city has been actively expanding public swimming pools. With the improvement of citizens' health and the expansion of leisure activities as key policy agendas, the city is increasing the number of public swimming pools, which are considered an important indicator of a healthy city.

In particular, three of the new swimming pools will be large-scale facilities with 10 lanes each: Yongin Bandabi Sports Center in Cheoin-gu, Dongbaek Comprehensive Welfare Center in Giheung-gu, and Gwanggyo Sports Center in Suji-gu. Among these, Yongin Bandabi Sports Center will feature an international-standard 50-meter pool, a diving pool, and spectator seating.

The public swimming pools are scheduled to open sequentially starting next year. The swimming pools at Dongbaek Comprehensive Welfare Center and the complex facility at Yongcheon Elementary School in Idong-eup, Cheoin-gu, will each be completed in the first half of next year. Dongbaek Comprehensive Welfare Center will have 10 lanes at 25 meters each, and Yongcheon Elementary School's pool will have five 25-meter lanes.

In addition, at the end of next year, the Giheung Multipurpose Sports Facility swimming pool, with six 25-meter lanes, will open.

Plans for other public swimming pools are also progressing rapidly. The swimming pool at the Baegam Elementary School complex facility in Baegam-myeon, Cheoin-gu (five 25-meter lanes), passed the central-local fiscal investment review by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in April.

The swimming pool at Gwanggyo Sports Center, which will be built together with the administrative welfare center in Sanghyeon 3-dong and feature 10 lanes at 25 meters each, underwent a feasibility study in July and is awaiting review by the city council and deliberation on the shared property management plan.

In the area of 138 Sanggal-dong, Giheung-gu, a swimming pool with six 25-meter lanes and a children's pool will be built in connection with the construction of Sanggal Public Support Rental Housing. The project operator will develop the facility and donate it to the city. The shared property management plan for this facility passed the city council in December last year.

Additionally, in Wonsam-myeon, Cheoin-gu, there are plans to build a swimming pool with four 25-meter lanes in a community center, which will be constructed in connection with the development of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.

The city is also actively securing the budget needed for pool construction. To minimize the financial burden on the city, it plans to obtain as much funding as possible through public offerings from the central government or public institutions to cover any budget shortfalls.

Currently, the public swimming pools operating in Yongin include: Giheung National Sports Center, Arpia Sports Center, Lifelong Learning Center Sports Center, Yongin Citizen Sports Center, Namsa Sports Center, Yongin Youth Training Center, and Yangji Community Center.

Lee Sangil, Mayor of Yongin, stated, "In line with our city's rising status as a global semiconductor hub, we are also focusing on expanding cultural, artistic, and sports facilities for daily life. Once the public swimming pools are built as planned, they will help enhance citizens' leisure and health activities."

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