Gwangju Dong-gu 'Kkodume Resource Circulation Village Living Lab' Project Officially Launched

Ministry of Environment Signs Agreement... Full-Scale Development of 10 Billion Won-Scale 'Smart Green City' Begins

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 30th that it will officially launch the resident-participatory ‘Kko(kot)dume Resource Circulation Village Living Lab’ project in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment.

Earlier, Dong-gu was the only district in Gwangju selected last year for the Ministry of Environment’s public contest project, the ‘Smart Green City Creation Project,’ worth 10 billion KRW.

After three rounds of consultations since January, Dong-gu finalized the project plan and signed an online agreement with the Ministry of Environment on this day. By next year, it plans to invest 10 billion KRW to promote ▲ creating a zero-waste village ▲ strengthening urban climate resilience ▲ establishing a resource circulation education and practice platform in the Sansu-dong area.

Starting next month, Dong-gu will begin the basic and detailed design for the resident-participatory living lab to build a zero-waste community mapping system, officially pushing forward the project with the goal of successful completion by next year.

The ‘Smart Green City Creation Project’ is a nationwide initiative selected through the Ministry of Environment’s contest involving 25 local governments. It aims to actively respond to climate change by generating creative ideas to solve urban problems such as household waste, climate, environment, and safety, and to transition to a resource circulation society through resident participation in village communities, thereby creating new green jobs.

The number of illegal waste dumping cases in Dong-gu was only 92 in 2019, but due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and increased demand for food packaging and delivery, the amount of disposable products surged, causing the cases to rise sharply to 386 in 2020.

To address these waste issues and increase resource circulation rates, projects such as ▲ building a zero-waste community mapping system ▲ installing AI (artificial intelligence) recycling collection machines ▲ establishing a smart collection hub system will be promoted. Residents participating in waste disposal and resource circulation activities will be awarded mileage points.

Additionally, to strengthen urban climate resilience, projects such as ▲ climate adaptation technology convergence projects (cool pavement, urban three-dimensional greening, unit greening, etc.) ▲ infrastructure establishment for protecting vulnerable groups from climate and environmental risks (fine dust reduction benches, heatwave and fine dust shelters, monitoring systems) will be implemented.

Furthermore, a resource circulation education and practice platform will be created through ▲ construction of a resource circulation eco-center ▲ establishment of a village data platform ▲ creation of a re & upcycling platform.

The ‘Resource Circulation Eco-Center’ is attracting attention as it will be the first ‘carbon-zero building’ constructed in Gwangju.

Dong-gu expects the following regional economic ripple effects after project completion next year: ▲ 16.8 billion KRW production inducement effect in Gwangju ▲ 20.8 billion KRW nationwide production inducement effect ▲ creation of 500 green jobs ▲ reduction of 835 tons CO2eq greenhouse gases ▲ installation of reduction devices achieving 85% reduction in food waste ▲ achieving 100% circulation rates for paper packs, cans, glass bottles, and clear PET bottles.

In addition, to maximize project effects, efforts will be intensified to foster social enterprises and village enterprises through expanding resource circulation product production and technology development.

Mayor Im Taek of Dong-gu said, “This agreement ceremony is a meaningful starting point for opening a new era of green new deal led by the region, addressing climate crisis and regional economic growth.” He added, “We will do our best to ensure that the Smart Green City Creation Project, the only one selected in Gwangju, becomes an advanced model leading the future-oriented green new deal not only in Gwangju but throughout South Korea.”