Citizen Participation Budget Excellence Project Contest Wins Top Award Two Years in a Row
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongbuk-gu announced that 49 projects proposed by Seongbuk residents were selected at the ‘2020 Citizen Participatory Budgeting Festival General Assembly’ held at Seoul City Hall on the 29th of last month, securing a budget of approximately 4.1 billion KRW.
The Resident Participatory Budgeting System is a system where residents directly propose, review, and evaluate projects needed in the region to reflect them in budget allocation. It has been mandatory since 2011 to increase financial transparency. Seongbuk-gu took the lead in resident participation by enacting the ‘Seongbuk-gu Resident Participatory Budgeting Operation Ordinance’ ahead of the revision of the Local Finance Act.
From early 2020, proposals were received from citizens, followed by proposer presentations, project site inspections, and citizen voting. The final selection was made at the ‘2020 Citizen Participatory Budgeting Festival General Assembly’ held at Seoul City Hall on the 29th of last month. As a result, the cumulative budget secured by Seongbuk-gu through Seoul’s participatory budgeting system has reached approximately 31.1 billion KRW.
This year’s selected projects include ▲ Barrier-free city, support for ramps with the slogan “It’s okay” (300 million KRW) ▲ Replacement of old parks to create safe parks (300 million KRW) ▲ Maintenance projects for Bukhansan and Jeongneung-dong walking trails and parks within Seongbuk-gu (300 million KRW). In total, 49 projects will receive about 4.1 billion KRW, consisting of 11 metropolitan proposal-type projects (2.34 billion KRW), 1 metropolitan cooperation-type project (about 370 million KRW), 8 district-level planning projects (1.05 billion KRW), and 29 projects in 10 dong-level planning units (about 260 million KRW).
Additionally, at the Citizen Participatory Budgeting Excellent Project Competition held during the festival, the project titled ‘Disabled people stopped on the way to the welfare center, please guarantee barrier-free walking rights’ won the grand prize, marking the second consecutive year of winning the top award.
Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, stated, “I hope that the projects started in Seongbuk-gu will serve as a catalyst and expand into projects that benefit all Seoul citizens. We will make various efforts to expand resident participation so that voices from the field are reflected in policies.”
Meanwhile, the resident voting (M-Voting) to select the 2 billion KRW scale Seongbuk-gu resident participatory budget will be held from September 9 to 23, and the final selection will be made through a resident general assembly thereafter.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
