Gwangju Innovation Promotion Committee Recommends Creating Urban Green Space Ecosystem Centered on Gwangjucheon River

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Innovation Promotion Committee, directly under the Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, finalized the 11th administrative innovation recommendation as ‘Creating a citizen-friendly urban green space (waterfront) ecosystem centered on Gwangjucheon’ through the 16th plenary meeting and expert consultation on the 4th, and recommended it to Gwangju Metropolitan City.

This innovation recommendation is the eighteenth since the Innovation Promotion Committee was launched as an advisory body directly under the mayor on November 27, 2018, following recommendations and proposals such as public institution innovation, activation of municipal art groups, smart manufacturing innovation, establishment of the Gwangju welfare model, reestablishment of Gwangju library policy, construction of an industrial policy platform, innovation of private cultural and artistic operating subsidies, low birthrate countermeasures, and formation of the post-COVID-19 economic and social countermeasures committee.

Gwangjucheon, which holds the lives and sorrows of Gwangju citizens, has lost its function as an urban ecosystem and citizen-friendly urban stream due to river covering and disconnection from surrounding green spaces (waterfront). Therefore, there is a need to comprehensively analyze various factors such as green space, residential environment, and economic growth, and to prepare an effective strategy for urban green space (waterfront) as a ‘sustainable big picture.’

Accordingly, the Innovation Promotion Committee recommended 21 innovation tasks based on three basic directions with the goal of ‘creating a citizen-friendly green ecosystem centered on Gwangjucheon’: ▲establishing a sustainable mid- to long-term urban green space (waterfront) system strategy ▲strengthening connectivity of urban green spaces (waterfront) along the axes of Mudeungsan, Yeongsangang River, and Gwangjucheon ▲restoring Gwangjucheon as a citizen-friendly ecological space by securing maintenance water.

Going forward, the Innovation Promotion Committee plans to have the city, which received the 11th administrative innovation recommendation, prepare and report a detailed implementation plan within three months, and continuously monitor to ensure that the innovation recommendations and proposals delivered to the city are reflected in the administration through the administrative innovation recommendation implementation status management card system.

Joo Jeong-min, Chairman of the Gwangju Innovation Promotion Committee, said, “Gwangjucheon is more than a physical space containing the lives and sorrows of 1.5 million Gwangju citizens. Restoring the ‘Gwangju-ness’ of Gwangjucheon can be said to be the oldest long-cherished project of Gwangju citizens,” and added, “To achieve innovation that citizens can feel, we will focus on key tasks considering realistic conditions such as city finances and strive together with the committee members of the Gwangju Innovation Promotion Committee to produce visible results.”