Nowon-gu, the secret behind opening affiliated parking lots over 7 times the average of Seoul's 25 districts?

2020 Seoul City Sharing Parking Lot Project Evaluation: Ranked 1st Among 25 Districts with 15 Locations... Focused on Expanding School Parking Lot Night Opening Project Since 2019, with 12 Schools Participating as of January, Followed by 13 Religious Facilities and 5 Distribution Facilities, Totaling 51 Locations and 1,133 Parking Spaces Opened

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is achieving significant results with its project to open private parking lots within the district to alleviate parking difficulties.

Last year, the district secured 15 private parking lots (304 spaces), including four schools, which is seven times higher than the average of 2.6 locations (63.6 spaces) across 25 autonomous districts.

The district's focus on opening private parking lots is due to the area's unique characteristics. In Nowon-gu, 80% of all housing consists of apartments, most of which were built over 30 years ago and lack underground parking. Moreover, with the commonality of two vehicles per household, parking shortages have become more severe.

In Seoul, creating one private parking space requires at least 50 million to 200 million KRW. Even when budgets are secured, projects often face difficulties due to opposition from nearby residents.

The district began actively promoting the private parking lot sharing project in 2019. It first focused on opening the private parking lots of 94 elementary, middle, and high schools evenly distributed throughout the area.

Initially, the education office and schools responded negatively due to safety concerns, but the district's persistent persuasion, including support for educational expenses, led to their agreement.

Most importantly, the key to success was gaining parents' consent through visiting parent meetings held in 2019.

As of January this year, 12 schools are participating, and subsequently, 13 religious facilities and 5 distribution facilities have joined, with a total of 51 locations and 1,133 parking spaces opened.

The district actively supports participating facilities by providing funds for facility improvements such as CCTV installation, vehicle entry and exit management equipment, floor paving, security lights, and locking devices. Schools receive additional subsidies, including educational expenses, as a priority.

This year, the district will continue to actively secure private parking lots, focusing on religious facilities with idle spaces on weekdays except weekends, and distribution facilities with parking lots vacant after business hours, as well as schools.

Meanwhile, along with the private parking lot opening project, the district is making every effort to alleviate parking difficulties through various projects such as establishing resident-priority parking spaces, removing fences, and green parking projects utilizing leftover land.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “The parking lot opening project provides residents searching for parking with a secure parking space and returns the profits to the facilities providing them, exemplifying the value of ‘sharing.’ We will continue to promote the project to encourage more facilities to participate and ensure it operates effectively.”

Nowon Middle School Parking Lot