Contributing to the Establishment of a Regional Virtuous Cycle Economic Ecosystem Including Urban Regeneration Planning
[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 13th that it will publicly recruit the ‘2020 Urban Regeneration Enterprises’ from the 14th of this month until July 6th.
Urban regeneration enterprises are a type of urban regeneration village enterprise that participate not only in the planning and implementation stages of urban regeneration but also take the lead in discovering, planning, and executing projects and activities that consider local characteristics even after the project ends. They work to solve local problems by combining and utilizing various regional resources and strive to establish a virtuous economic ecosystem within the community.
The selected urban regeneration enterprises will carry out projects linked to urban regeneration, such as services that solve local problems, job creation, management of local infrastructure, and residential area management.
The target applicants are enterprises located within urban regeneration revitalization areas, managed residential environment improvement areas, or Our Neighborhood Revival Urban Regeneration New Deal project areas. They must be corporations composed of local residents as the core, along with experts, activists, and various stakeholders from the community. For example, participation is possible in the form of corporations such as social cooperatives, village enterprises, or local companies.
Seoul will provide initial funding for up to three years starting next year, divided into two types according to the purpose and business content of the urban regeneration enterprise, on the condition that part of the corporate profits is contributed to the local community: up to 80 million KRW (regional business type) and 287 million KRW (regional management type).
Additionally, through the Seoul Urban Regeneration Support Center, regular consulting will be provided by a professional mentor group in 10 fields including accounting, marketing, publicity, legal affairs, and branding. Even after the support project ends, expert consulting and monitoring will continue to ensure the professionalism and sustainability of the urban regeneration enterprises.
A Seoul city official stated, "We plan to make the final selection in December by evaluating the potential for growth into strong local enterprises and self-sustainability, focusing on business plans, corporate capabilities, and contributions to the community."
The main evaluation criteria are broadly divided into four categories (locality, publicness, governance, sustainability), and the process includes document screening, on-site inspection, face-to-face interviews, and subsidy review.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Seoul will hold an integrated briefing session related to the recruitment online on the 19th via the ‘Seoul Metropolitan Urban Regeneration Support Center website and YouTube.’
Ryu Hoon, Director of Seoul’s Urban Regeneration Office, said, “Seoul’s urban regeneration enterprises will become the center of a virtuous local economy where residents solve local problems themselves, provide necessary services within the community, and create jobs for residents.”
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