Seongdong-gu Expands Safe Boarding Zones and Yellow Carpets... Jungnang-gu Distributes 180,000 Self-Diagnosis Kits to Children and Students

[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu Enhances and Reinforces Mart Traffic Safety System, Expands Facilities Including 13 Additional Floor Signal Lights to Increase Effectiveness; Designates 12 Safe Boarding Zones and 13 Yellow Carpets, Expands Child Protection Zones for Safer Environment... Jungnang-gu Distributes 4 Self-Diagnosis Kits per Person to 44,645 Children in Daycare Centers, Kindergartens, and Schools... Songpa-gu Renovates Yongma Children's Park Playground through Public-Private Partnership

Yellow carpets installed in front of Gyeongdong Elementary School. Seongdong-gu will additionally install yellow carpets at 13 waiting areas near crosswalks around schools this year.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (District Mayor Jung Won-oh) has established and is actively promoting the '2022 School Zone Improvement Project' to strengthen traffic safety within school zones, including elementary school and daycare center routes.

This year, the district aims for 'ZERO child traffic accidents' by further enhancing the smart traffic safety system it has been pioneering, expanding designated protection zones, managing safe boarding and alighting areas, and maintaining traffic safety facilities to create a safe commuting environment.

First, 13 smart crosswalks without ground traffic lights will be installed in the first half of the year. The district will improve the zones of smart crosswalks it has been leading, and reinforce highly effective smart traffic safety facilities such as solar-powered speed reduction devices and illegal parking enforcement CCTV within protection zones.

Additionally, 12 more 'Safe Boarding and Alighting Zones' will be added this year, following last year’s expansion. These zones allow vehicles to stop for 5 minutes within no-parking protection zones for children’s boarding and alighting, securing safe spaces for children. Continuous safety monitoring will ensure a safer and more comfortable commuting environment.

School zones will also be expanded. Following the designation of Eunhaeng Daycare Center and Geumho Elementary School last year, Geumbuk Elementary School will be added, with installation and maintenance of traffic safety facilities such as anti-slip pavement and zone road markings. Yellow carpets will be newly installed at 13 crosswalk waiting areas around schools.

The 'Seongdong Walking School' project, which has the largest budget and personnel in Seoul and shares real-time information with traffic safety instructors and SNS, will be further strengthened. The Walking School operates continuously even during winter and spring vacations, providing quarterly safety education for instructors and conducting satisfaction surveys in the first and second halves of the year to actively reflect user needs.

Furthermore, traffic safety guardians will be deployed to all elementary schools in the area to enhance operational completeness.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, "Continuous maintenance and improvement of school zones will create an environment where children can commute more safely," adding, "We will continue to prioritize children's safety and create a safe Seongdong where everyone can move about with peace of mind."

Jungnang-gu (District Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) is independently providing self-diagnostic kits to children and students, who are vulnerable to infections.

Following the end of the government's first phase of self-diagnostic kit support on the 31st of last month, the district is conducting this independent support to prevent gaps in quarantine measures.

The target group is children and students who are vulnerable to infection due to low vaccination rates. Since the spread began in January with the Omicron variant, confirmed cases among children and students have continued without interruption.

The number of cases among minors (ages 0-19) in Jungnang-gu was 27 in the 4th week of January, 1,935 in the 4th week of February, and 3,180 in the 4th week of March.

Kits will be distributed to 48 schools, 32 kindergartens, 204 daycare centers, and 33 child welfare facilities. From the 4th to the 5th of this month, a total of 178,580 kits (4 per person) will be distributed to 44,645 individuals over two days.

After this support, the district will consider additional support for low-income and vulnerable groups, various welfare facilities, and public institutions, taking into account the COVID-19 situation and government plans for self-test kit distribution.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, "We hope to fill the quarantine gaps through self-diagnostic kits amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19," adding, "We will continue to protect vulnerable groups and do our best to prevent the spread of cluster infections."

From late February to the end of March, with support from the government and Seoul City, a total of 525,207 self-diagnostic kits were distributed to 80,432 vulnerable individuals in Jungnang-gu, including schools, kindergartens, daycare centers, welfare facilities for the disabled and elderly, pregnant women, basic livelihood security recipients, lower-income groups, and severely disabled persons.

Songpa-gu (District Mayor Park Sung-soo) signed a '2022 Public-Private Partnership Urban Playground Improvement Project Agreement' on the 4th with Seoul City, Kolon, and Save the Children.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, the agreement was signed non-face-to-face and aims to contribute to children's emotional development and enhance children's right to play as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Under this agreement, the four organizations will collaborate to renovate facilities and spaces in old children's park playgrounds within the district. Kolon and Save the Children, participating in the project, have been improving children's playgrounds annually since 2016 through the 'Public-Private Partnership Playground Reconstruction Project' with Seoul City.

This year, Songpa-gu's 'Yongma Children's Park' (Macheon-dong 45) was selected as the project site. The selection was based on the district's proactive efforts, Songpa-gu's unique experience in creating cultural and artistic children's parks using the children's council, and factors such as resident usage rates and the park's aging condition.

In this project, ▲ Songpa-gu will provide the project site and operate a platform for gathering opinions from children and local residents, as well as administrative support. ▲ Seoul City will handle project planning and promotional support. ▲ Kolon will participate as part of its social contribution by funding the project. ▲ Save the Children will contribute talents through planning, design, and construction participation.

Yongma Children's Park, selected as the project site, is the only large children's park in the densely populated residential area of Macheon-dong. Although frequently used by residents, the facilities are severely aged and require maintenance.

The district plans to renovate Yongma Children's Park through resident opinion collection and design workshops. In particular, popular play facilities for children, exercise equipment, benches, and other park amenities will be refurbished, with the reopening scheduled for October.

Park Sung-soo, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, "Through this agreement, we will actively support the creation of an integrated play space where children can develop sensitivity and adventurous spirit," adding, "We will continue to expand play and experience spaces for children so they can grow up bright and healthy."