With Communication and Innovation, the Era of 'HyupchiMapo' Takes Flight...

Appointment of New Committee Members, Sharing 2020 Cooperation Project Achievements, Discussing 2021 Cooperation Project Plans... Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, Declares "Will Fully Support the Realization of 'Cooperation Mapo' with Resident Participation"

New Committee Member Appointment Ceremony

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “‘Co-Governance Mapo,’ where residents participate from the planning stage of administration to create policies, is one of the major frameworks of the district administration emphasizing ‘communication’ and ‘innovation’ during the 7th term of the elected government.”

On February 24th at 3 PM, at the 8th-floor conference room of Mapo District Office, Mayor Yoodonggyun of Mapo attended the ‘2021 1st Regular Meeting of Mapo District Co-Governance Committee’ and said, “Over the past year, meaningful achievements have been made through co-governance projects jointly promoted by the public and the administration.”

On this day, new co-governance committee members who will support this year’s Mapo co-governance projects were appointed, and the achievements of the 2020 co-governance implementation projects were shared.

Additionally, the promotion plans for the 2021 community innovation plan co-governance implementation projects, which were identified through deliberative processes such as last year’s resident public forums, were also discussed.

Since 2019, Mapo District has laid the foundation for co-governance by enacting the Basic Ordinance on Public-Private Co-Governance and organizing and operating the ‘Mapo District Co-Governance Committee.’ The ‘Mapo District Co-Governance Committee’ consists of 18 private members with diverse community activity experience, the district mayor, senior officials, and 10 district council members. Together, they collaborate to solve local issues by jointly deciding, executing, and evaluating policies.

Mapo’s co-governance projects significantly expanded resident participation compared to previous resident participation projects that were limited to proposals or decisions. Residents participate in all stages of projects?from proposing, executing, to evaluating policies and projects?as part of the community innovation plan.

Last year, the district conducted a total of eight co-governance projects. Forums were held to address three local challenges (gentrification, illegal dumping of garbage, and creation of resident meeting spaces) with joint efforts from the public and administration. Various essential projects for residents’ daily lives were promoted, such as using senior centers’ nighttime hours for childcare, integrated education for disabled and non-disabled individuals, and opening private parking lots to alleviate parking difficulties.

In particular, the youth smoking cessation promotion project, conducted jointly by the public health center and youth, was recognized for having youth directly participate by designating ‘smoke-free zones’ and producing ‘smoking cessation promotional videos.’ This led to Mapo being selected as the ‘Best District’ in the ‘Youth Smoking Prevention’ category of the ‘Making Seoul a Smoke-Free City’ initiative, achieving tangible results.

This year, a total of nine projects will be carried out, including five ongoing projects that require continued discussion from last year, and four new projects: ▲Finding Mapo-style housing stability alternatives ▲Creating a healthy pet culture for all ▲Co-creating the Mapo Women’s Center ▲Developmentally Disabled Advocacy Store Project.

These projects will be operated through project implementation teams composed of public officials from the responsible departments and private participants, undergoing a co-governance process to solve community issues.

Meanwhile, the Mapo District Co-Governance Committee plans to implement various policies to revitalize co-governance in Mapo, including monitoring the 2021 co-governance projects, discovering agendas for the 2022 co-governance projects, and continuous promotion and education to expand administrative and resident participation in co-governance.

Mayor Yoodonggyun stated, “2020 was a meaningful year in laying the foundation for Mapo’s co-governance administration through the active participation of the committee members and local residents. In 2021, we will wholeheartedly support the realization of a true ‘Co-Governance Mapo,’ where residents participate from the planning stage of administration to create policies.”