'Women-Friendly City' Gwanak-gu Women's Safety is the Happiness of the Community

In the 2nd Year of Being Selected as a Women-Friendly City, Establishing Dense Safety Infrastructure Such as Safe Alleys and Women’s Safe Return Paths... Completion of the ‘Single-Person Household Women’s Safety Smart City Planning Consulting Support Project’... Creating a Women’s Safety Smart City with 19.1 Billion KRW Investment by 2025, Implementing a 5-Year Plan to Make a Safe and Secure Gwanak

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “Safe alleys, safe routes home, nighttime lighting, and emergency bells make it easy to notice at night, and I feel at ease walking alone anywhere in the alleys.”

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) is responsible for women's safety with 22 safe alleys and 21 women’s safe routes home. In dark alleys, CCTV installations and LED signboards have been placed to make them easily noticeable at night, and various safety facilities such as emergency bells connected to the integrated control center and 112 have been installed.

Near residential areas, ‘Bitteo,’ which detects passersby and shines light while sounding a warning, ‘Bitdeung,’ a nighttime light and safety warning signal, and ‘Bitbel,’ a nighttime light indicating the location of emergency bells, have been installed.

Also, stores operated by a single woman are equipped with safety bells connected to the control center, serving as a reassuring security guard.

To eradicate digital sex crimes, the nation’s first illegal filming camera self-inspection equipment rental service is underway, and efforts are being accelerated to promote smart safety projects using 4th industrial revolution technologies such as AI and IoT, including the installation and operation of smart safety lighting in the Sinlim Station area, which is dense with one-room apartments.

The nation’s first GPS-equipped wandering detection device support project to prevent missing cases of women with developmental disabilities is also being implemented.

In particular, last February, to prevent crimes against women and enable rapid response, the ‘Single-Person Household Women’s Safety Smart City Planning Consulting Support Project’ utilizing new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data was completed, accelerating the creation of a women’s safety smart city.

Recognized for the excellence of the systematic and continuous Gwanak-type women’s safety projects, Gwanak-gu was selected last year by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as an exemplary case of a ‘Women-Friendly City.’ This was the result of actively discovering Gwanak-type women’s safety projects based on regional characteristics and community policing activities involving residents such as autonomous crime prevention squads.

The district has not stopped there and established a five-year plan last year to create a safe city Gwanak where all residents, including vulnerable groups such as women and the elderly, can live without anxiety from crime, accident risks, and all other insecurity factors.

By 2025, it plans to invest 19.1 billion KRW to build a dense crime prevention environment where all residents can live safely from crime and to realize a safe urban space where anyone can live with peace of mind.

Moreover, not limited to expanding safety infrastructure, the district will expand the ‘Our Neighborhood Women’s Safety Community Meetings’ to all neighborhoods to strengthen networks among single-person households in the local community and operate programs that can establish safety as a culture, carrying out projects that harmonize hardware and software.

Mayor Park Junhee said, “This year, the second year since the designation as a Women-Friendly City, we plan to accelerate the creation of a Women-Friendly City through full-scale promotion of Women-Friendly City projects,” and added, “In particular, we will actively discover Gwanak-type women’s safety projects based on regional characteristics and residents’ needs and expand community policing activities with residents to create a happy city Gwanak where women feel safe.”