Seongdong-gu Community Innovation Evaluation Selected for Highest Grade, Secures 1.1 Billion Won

5-Year Cooperative Governance Project, Ordinance Establishment of 'Seongdong-gu Cooperative Council', Strengthening Foundation with Expanded Cooperative Members... Multicultural Children's Small Book Nook, Location-Tracking Smart Insoles, Embracing Minority Voices in Our Society

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, and the Seongdong-gu Cooperation Council participating in the Vision Declaration Ceremony of the 2nd Phase of Collaborative Governance in Seongdong

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) was selected as the highest grade in the ‘2021 Community Innovation Plan (District-level Plan) Performance Evaluation’ and the ‘Comprehensive Evaluation of the Participatory Budget System’ hosted by Seoul City this month, achieving excellent results and securing the maximum support amount of 1.1 billion KRW for next year’s Community Innovation Plan project budget.

The Community Innovation Plan (District-level Plan), abbreviated as the ‘Co-Governance Project,’ refers to a strategic plan aimed at sustainable regional development by solving community problems and establishing a co-governance foundation, based on the concept of ‘co-governance’ where residents participate in all processes of policy planning, decision-making, execution, and evaluation as partners of the administration.

This evaluation covered the overall citizen participatory budget system, including the operation performance of the Community Innovation Plan projects and the operation status of the autonomous district participatory budget system. The district was selected as the highest grade, ‘Grade A,’ with excellent performance across all fields.

Now in its fifth year, the ‘Co-Governance Project’ began in 2017 with the enactment of a basic ordinance to activate public-private co-governance. It established an official co-governance promotion system by forming the ‘Seongdong-gu Co-Governance Council,’ which includes various private sector actors and experts in areas such as welfare, care, and urban regeneration.

In addition, through the 2019 ordinance amendment that significantly expanded the number of co-governance committee members from 30 to 50, a solid institutional foundation was established to allow residents representing more fields and areas to participate together.

Furthermore, by conducting up to 13 projects annually, issues in areas that had been overlooked as minorities in our society?such as multicultural families, small business owners, rental apartments, youth, and persons with disabilities?were brought to public attention. The ‘Multicultural Children’s Small Book Nook’ was opened to enable children to learn their mother tongue directly through original books, and ‘GPS Tracking Insoles (Smart Insoles)’ were distributed to prevent the disappearance of persons with developmental disabilities.

Since 2012, the participatory budget system has been implemented, allowing residents to participate in the budget formulation and execution process. In 2018, resident general meetings were held in each neighborhood to reflect their wishes as much as possible. Last year, online participatory education was subdivided into basic and advanced courses, and participatory budget monitoring was separately operated in the first and second halves of the year, enabling residents to cooperate as partners of the administration and grow together as agents of sustainable regional development.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “This achievement was possible thanks to the active efforts of residents who have continuously shown interest in the local community,” adding, “Now is an era where it is difficult to solve complex urban problems such as urban regeneration and multiculturalism by administrative power alone. ‘Co-governance’ is the most important element to realize district administration that embraces socially vulnerable and marginalized residents.”

He also added, “We will continue to provide support and efforts so that the district administration can come closer to the residents.”