[Interview] Lee Chang-woo, Dongjak District Mayor, "Establishing Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town for Dongjak's Next 100 Years"

Jangseungbaegi General Administrative Town Construction Started in 2020, Completed in 2022... The Nation's First Government Building Coexisting with Merchants and Created as an Open Space for Residents Promoting the Construction of Sadang District Public Welfare Complex Building to Foster the Second Economic Axis and Balanced Development Across the District... The Basic Premise of Living in Dongjak is Safety... Policies Prioritize Protecting Residents from Disasters and Crime... Full Effort in COVID-19 Response... Quarantine, Public-Private Cooperation, Social Distancing, Emergency Supplementary Budget to Revive the Local Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Dongjak-gu, we had prepared many events such as the Residents' Day ceremony and a national singing contest, but due to the implementation of high-intensity social distancing measures to protect residents from COVID-19, all events involving large gatherings were completely canceled.”

On the 1st of this month, Dongjak-gu marks its 40th anniversary since its establishment. Dongjak-gu Mayor Lee Chang-woo said this in an interview with Asia Economy.

The mayor also said, “To celebrate Dongjak’s 40th anniversary, this year will be treated as Evolution Season 2, completing the core projects prepared and planned since the 6th local government administration and returning the results to the residents. Through the concretization of future projects pursued so far, residents will tangibly feel the changes,” he cautiously predicted.

The district is accelerating efforts to make noticeable progress in projects such as the construction of the Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town and the development of the Yongyang Bongjeong area into a tourist attraction.

Additionally, it plans to promote sustainable urban regeneration and expand living infrastructure to transform neighborhoods into desirable places to live. The district has officially launched the urban regeneration project for Bon-dong and Sadang 4-dong, investing a total of 39 billion KRW to improve the environment of aging low-rise residential areas and promote community and local economic revitalization.

Efforts are also being made to expand living SOC (Social Overhead Capital) within a 10-minute walk, including the Heukseok-dong Complex Library, the Kim Young-sam Public Library, Dongjak-gu Family Center, youth creative innovation experience spaces, Noryangjin complex cultural facilities, and the Sangdo-dong Dream Center.

Mayor Lee said, “Since the 6th local government administration, we have placed people at the center of all values and carried out district administration to realize a world where the simple and obvious principle of 'people first' is proudly recognized in Dongjak-gu. Under the basic principle of a happy change and a livable Dongjak, we are making future plans and implementing them step by step.”

The district is a residential-centered city with 84% of its total area designated for housing, offering the advantage of a pleasant environment with few hazardous elements such as industrial complexes or entertainment facilities. However, with a commercial ratio of only 2.1%, it has been promoting future projects to establish an economically self-sufficient urban structure.

The construction of the Jangseungbaegi Administrative Town is a core project responsible for Dongjak’s future.

The Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town has been a long-cherished wish of Dongjak-gu residents, to the extent that funds for the building were collected since 2004. With the start of the 6th local government administration, Dongjak-gu established an Administrative Town Construction Promotion Team directly under the mayor and focused on the comprehensive administrative town construction project as a key pledge.

Mayor Lee said, “We expanded the concept beyond a simple office relocation to an urban plan that determines the future of the district, advancing a project that had not progressed at all.”

The construction of the Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town is a future project that will change Dongjak’s urban structure. Jangseungbaegi will serve as the administrative hub where the district office, district council, health center, and cultural welfare center are gathered, while Noryangjin will be transformed into the economic hub through private development of the existing office site, aiming for the joint development of Noryangjin and Jangseungbaegi to establish a new central axis for Dongjak.

After establishing the basic plan for the Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town in 2014, the district passed the feasibility study by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Seoul City investment review in 2016, securing economic and policy feasibility. In March 2018, it signed an implementation agreement with the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), marking the start of construction. LH will first invest funds to build the new office in Jangseungbaegi, and the district will repay the cost by transferring the current Noryangjin office site in a donation in return method. The implementation plan was announced in December 2018, architectural design was completed in January this year, and construction is about to begin.

Mayor Lee said, “We plan to complete the land compensation and acquisition procedures around the new office site by the first half of the year, start construction, and proceed with the Jangseungbaegi Comprehensive Administrative Town construction project without delay, aiming for completion in 2022. It will be the first district office in the country that coexists with market merchants and will be returned as an open space for residents.”

He also stated, “Along with Noryangjin, the economic center of Dongjak, we aim to foster the Sadang-dong area as the second economic axis to achieve balanced development throughout the district.”

To this end, the district is promoting the construction of a public welfare complex building equipped with health and welfare facilities such as a health branch office, senior comprehensive welfare center, lifelong learning center, and childcare center on the site of the former Beomjin Passenger Terminal. Last year, it secured the project site through a property exchange agreement and completed feasibility studies and basic planning services to establish the basic concept. This year, it will carry out preliminary procedures such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s feasibility study and aims to start construction in 2023.

Mayor Lee said, “The Heukseok and Daebang areas will also grow together to promote regional development. In the Heukseok area, we are promoting the relocation of the Heukseok rainwater pumping station and plan to create a complex cultural platform including a cultural support center and resident community where residents can enjoy waterfront scenery at the relocation site. In Daebang-dong’s military site, general housing and cultural and sports facilities will be built.”

The most fundamental prerequisite for a livable Dongjak is safety, and the district prioritizes protecting residents from disasters and crimes by implementing safety policies.

Mayor Lee said, “We are strengthening the frontline Dongbang Response Headquarters to prepare for infectious diseases such as COVID-19 that can occur at any time, and plan to continuously expand infrastructure such as personnel and facilities. Along with safety from infectious diseases, we are carefully examining safety risk factors that can occur in daily life and focusing on prevention.”

The district is establishing the nation’s first smart safety village in Sadang 1 and 4-dong and is installing a smart safety management system that attaches QR codes to hazardous facilities in the area, including large construction sites, and manages them integrally using smart devices.

Mayor Lee said, “We have also established a foundation to secure the golden time in case of disasters. This year, we will build a smart city integrated platform to connect emergency situations such as crime prevention and disaster prevention in real time with the police and fire stations centered on the CCTV control center.”

Accessibility to safety information has also been improved. Since January this year, the district has been providing residents with a lifestyle-oriented map service that allows them to view and search the status of safety villages and safe alleys at a glance.

In the crisis situation of COVID-19, where a strong role of local governments is required, the district is making every effort to protect the lives and safety of residents.

Mayor Lee said, “First, to protect residents, we are responding to COVID-19 with the principle of prioritizing the protection of health centers, local medical personnel, and Dongjak-gu staff.”

The district has reduced health center medical services to strengthen the screening clinic function and is intensively promoting that symptomatic individuals use the screening clinic first before visiting medical institutions in cooperation with a total of 757 medical institutions in the area. All Dongjak-gu employees are required to comply with work manuals such as wearing masks during work and daily health checks, emphasizing personal hygiene management.

Mayor Lee said, “All staff, including those at the health center, are working hard on the front lines of COVID-19 response. We are promoting quarantine activities throughout the district centered on the 15-dong quarantine headquarters and actively striving to implement high-intensity social distancing measures to end COVID-19, including banning gatherings in resident-concentrated areas such as Noryangjin Station Square until the end of April and conducting on-site inspections of religious facilities and multi-use facilities.”

The district is strengthening joint responses with local residents and related organizations to block COVID-19 infection.

Mayor Lee said, “As the number of COVID-19 testees rapidly increases and medical personnel are needed, members of the Dongjak Medical Association visit the screening clinic site daily for two hours to assist with specimen collection. We have also established a hotline with local universities to install thermal cameras on campus and support airport shuttle buses and accommodations for international students.”

The “Good Landlord Movement,” which reduces rent for small business owners facing management difficulties, has also spread in the area. As of April 7, 1,052 building owners have voluntarily participated, benefiting 2,499 self-employed stores with rent reductions.

The district plans to provide incentives such as on-site building safety inspections and priority selection for signboard improvement projects to participating building owners. The Sadang Saemaeul Credit Cooperative and Dongjak Credit Union are also supporting the landlord movement by offering the nation’s first 5% preferential interest rate on one-year fixed-term savings accounts to good landlords.

Mayor Lee said, “These warm movements by residents will be the driving force to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. To support self-employed people currently facing great difficulties due to COVID-19, the district has prepared an emergency supplementary budget of 29.3 billion KRW, including 7.5 billion KRW from the disaster management fund, and will promptly execute it for damage recovery.”

The district is expanding loan amounts to a total of 9.84 billion KRW, including the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, and temporarily lowering loan interest rates to a maximum of 0% to help stabilize the management of small business owners. Small business owners whose sales have decreased due to COVID-19 will receive emergency living stabilization funds of up to 700,000 KRW per business, and multi-use facility businesses such as PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and academies that voluntarily suspended operations due to high-intensity social distancing will receive up to 1 million KRW in support.

Efforts are also being made to revitalize the shrinking commercial districts. The issuance scale of Dongjak Love Gift Certificates will be increased to 10 billion KRW, and Zero Pay affiliated stores will receive emergency management subsidies of 5% of Dongjak Love Gift Certificate payments for four months, up to 300,000 KRW per month.

To revitalize traditional markets and shopping districts, the district supports coupon distribution and events, promotes consumption through suspending operation of the district office cafeteria, designating days to visit traditional markets, and encouraging the use of flower shops. It will create a total of 323 jobs through alley cleaning, Dongbang patrol teams, and livelihood public work for local residents facing crises such as unemployment.

The district plans to operate a call center so that residents such as small business owners struggling due to COVID-19 can receive one-stop guidance on emergency support projects.

Dongjak-gu Mayor Lee Chang-woo said, “With the COVID-19 recovery budget support, we will be a strong pillar for the shaken daily lives of residents and the local economy. Through this all-out response to COVID-19, we will overcome the crisis and definitely protect the lives and safety of residents.”