Gyeongbuk Province and Yeongju City Hold Completion Ceremony for 'Playground in the Wonderland'

Opening of a Playground "By Children, For Children, Of Children"

The 'Playground in the Wonderland' where actual users, children, participated in the entire creation process.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] On the 23rd, Gyeongbuk Province established the ‘Playground in Wonderland’ inside the Jugong Apartment in Gahung-dong, Yeongju City, and held a completion ceremony.

About 100 people attended the ceremony, including Jang Wook-hyun, Mayor of Yeongju City, Jeong Tae-young, President of Save the Children, Kim Dong-gi, Director of Social Disaster Division of Gyeongbuk Province, construction company officials, and local residents.

The event included congratulatory speeches by key guests, a presentation of impressions by a child representative, a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the completion, an award ceremony for the playground naming contest, and a playground tour.

The newly completed Yeongju ‘Playground in Wonderland’ was selected last year in the Gyeongbuk Province children’s playground contest project, with a total project cost of 1 billion KRW (150 million KRW from the province, 817 million KRW from the city, and 33 million KRW from others), and was created on a 2,090㎡ area inside the apartment complex.

The playground is equipped with play facilities such as hanging bars, net play, slides, trampolines, play yards, and sand play areas.

From the planning stage, children, the actual users of the playground, participated in the entire process including design, construction, naming selection, and supervision.

Additionally, local residents, child representatives, and expert advisory groups formed a resident council and actively reflected the users’ opinions in the design through three workshops.

Opening on the 1st of next month, the ‘Playground in Wonderland’ is expected to become a lively place where children in the Gahung-dong area of Yeongju can freely run and enjoy a safe play culture.

Since 2018, the province has signed an MOU with the child relief NGO Save the Children to create children’s playgrounds, and by last year, nine playgrounds in seven cities and counties within the province have been established and operated.

This year, including Yeongju’s Playground in Wonderland, three playgrounds in three cities and counties are scheduled to be completed.

With this year’s project budget, three new playgrounds will be newly established in three cities and counties, bringing the total number of children’s playgrounds in the region to 15.

Kim Dong-gi, Director of Social Disaster Division of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “I hope that children, the most precious future assets of our society, can safely run and play freely in playgrounds and develop creative thinking.”