Expansion of 460 New Community Sports Facilities in Seoul by 2023

Seoul City and Districts Invest a Total of 403.7 Billion Won Over 5 Years... Schools and Private Sports Facilities Shared with Residents

Seoul Grand Park Baseball Stadium, opened in April 2019

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to provide a total of 460 community sports facilities, including 85 indoor sports facilities, by 2023 to create an environment where any citizen can exercise anytime and anywhere. This includes 35 'indoor multipurpose gyms' where people can enjoy sports activities regardless of weather or season, as well as an additional 50 'Our Neighborhood Small Gyms' that convert public and private idle spaces into community sports areas.

According to Seoul's 'Community Sports Facility Expansion Project' plan announced on the 12th, indoor multipurpose gyms consisting of swimming pools, fitness centers, and other multipurpose sports spaces will be expanded in cooperation with the central government and autonomous districts. Starting with Geumcheon-gu this month, multipurpose gyms in Guro-gu in April and Seodaemun-gu in September are nearing completion, and next year, construction will begin on five gyms in Seongdong-gu, Dobong-gu, Nowon-gu, Gangdong-gu, and Guro-gu.

'Our Neighborhood Small Gyms,' which remodel idle sites and spaces of around 1000㎡ into community sports spaces, will be equipped with various sports facilities after remodeling and provided to local residents. To this end, Seoul is also exploring ways to utilize idle spaces in public facilities such as community service centers and police centers, as well as private spaces like apartment complexes and large supermarkets.

For elementary, middle, and high schools that open their playgrounds and sports facilities to local residents, the city will support facility renovation costs up to 100 million KRW per school. Through this, more than 50 schools annually, totaling 250 schools, will share their sports facilities with local residents and actively use them as leisure hubs. Last year, Seoul selected 61 schools for the school sports facility opening project and supported an average of 81 million KRW per school.

For schools without sports facilities, the city will also promote a project to support construction costs for new sports facilities on the condition that they are open to residents. In cooperation with the education office and schools at all levels, Seoul plans to expand the current 85 open school gyms by an additional 15, increasing the total to 100.

The city is also implementing a project to share workplace sports facilities with local residents through public-private cooperation with general companies and universities. This allows companies to actively fulfill social responsibility and give back, while local residents can enjoy better leisure activities through the use of sports facilities. Induk University, Sangmyung University, and Myongji College of Technology have begun fully opening their sports facilities this year, and Seoul plans to expand participation to 22 private companies by 2023.

To expand community sports facilities, the city plans to invest a total of 403.7 billion KRW over five years, including 159.5 billion KRW from the city budget, 109.2 billion KRW from the national budget, and 135 billion KRW from district budgets by 2023. With the expansion of 460 community sports facilities, accessibility to these facilities is expected to improve significantly, reducing walking time from the current average of 18.8 minutes to within 5 minutes, greatly benefiting citizens' community sports and leisure activities.

Joo Yong-tae, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, "In the era of Work-Life Balance, community sports is the most fundamental element to improve quality of life and a right that all citizens should universally enjoy. We will continue to expand community sports facilities so that all Seoul citizens can freely enjoy exercising right in front of their homes."