Jeongneungcheon Reborn as a Cultural Space Tailored to Children's Eye Level

[Seoul District News] Dongdaemun-gu Creates a 2.1km Cultural, Artistic, and Natural Space along Jeongneungcheon & Develops Artificial Structures Hindering River Scenery into Nature-Friendly Facilities ... Jongno-gu to Offer Various In-Person and Online Programs in Art, Leather Craft, and More Starting October ... Gangbuk-gu Allocates 58.1 Billion KRW in First Supplementary Budget for Gangbuk-gu Office Construction & New Gangbuk Line, Redevelopment and Reconstruction Support Team, Municipal Children's Specialized Hospital Support, and Other Key Projects of the 8th Administration & Gangbuk Love Gift Certificates, Ui

Jeongneungcheon Walking Trail

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The area around Jeongneungcheon Stream in Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) is being reborn as a resident-friendly space where culture, art, and nature breathe together.

The district announced plans to develop a 2.1km section of Jeongneungcheon Stream (from the confluence with Cheonggyecheon to Jongam Bridge) into a resident-friendly space harmonized with nature, transforming the stream into a central urban space to improve residents' quality of life.

Following the commencement of the project on the 15th, a basic design service kickoff meeting was held at 4 p.m. on the 27th. A total of 16 people, including Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, Vice Mayor Choi Hong-yeon, related officials, and external experts, attended the meeting, where overall project details and site status analyses were discussed along with various opinions.

The district plans to first supply an additional 27,000 tons of water to the stream, which currently maintains 5,000 tons, creating a waterfront space with a water depth of 30 to 50 cm where children can play in the water. They will also carry out natural ecological environment improvements such as odor reduction and planting.

Additionally, content reflecting Jeongneungcheon’s unique natural and historical characteristics will be developed. By incorporating customized content, the area will be transformed into a cultural space that satisfies residents’ historical, cultural, and natural ecological needs, going beyond a simple daily healing space.

Notably, this project will transform the covered structures (internal circulation road and covered parking lot) and artificial concrete structures that currently spoil the stream’s aesthetics into cultural spaces viewed from children’s perspectives and facilities harmonized with nature, drawing attention.

The Jeongneungcheon Resident-Friendly Space Development project is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2023 after a mid-term report meeting in December, reflecting advisory feedback.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “People’s clearest memories are often of playing as children. We aim to create a space where children can play naturally by renovating the waterfront area of Jeongneungcheon to suit their perspective and developing play opportunities. Starting with this waterfront renovation, we will also promote the creation of premium walking trails connected to Baebongsan, Cheonjangsan, and Jungnangcheon trails to make Dongdaemun-gu a better place to live and a happier community for residents.”

Jongno-gu (Mayor Jeong Moon-heon) will operate the ‘Jongno Byeolbyeol School’ fall semester program from October to December to provide children and adolescents with diverse learning opportunities.

Participants will engage in meaningful time playing, learning, and growing with peers through after-school classes held at various local sites such as museums and palaces.

In-person programs will be conducted in nine locations across the district, including small libraries, organized by region, while online programs will be offered during evening hours after school.

In-person programs include ▲Adding Happiness with Picture Books and Art (Sunginmaru Small Library) ▲Do-Re-Mi Music Class (Nugakjae) ▲Leather Craft Journey with Friends (Toshiko Leather) ▲Experiencing Our Traditional Clothes through Drama (Dreaming Pyeongchang-dong Small Library), among others.

Online programs include ▲Challenge YouTuber! Creating My Own Videos ▲Exciting History Trip - Searching for Joseon’s World Heritage ▲World History through Figures - Greece and Rome ▲My Hands Are Golden! I’m Also an Art Creator ▲Let’s Play Webtoon, etc.

Applications open on September 28 at 10 a.m. via the Jongno Education Portal. Program schedules and target audiences are detailed on the portal. All courses are free of charge, but participants must cover material costs.

Additionally, Jongno-gu operates the ‘Visiting Byeolbyeol Village School’ for children and adolescents using local neighborhood care centers and regional child centers. Specialized instructors who have completed separate training will visit each institution to lead after-school programs such as art, traditional games, and violin.

Mayor Jeong Moon-heon said, “I hope children and adolescents can experience and enjoy various fields such as art, English, crafts, and history close to home, gaining joyful learning opportunities. We will support them to enjoy a different kind of fun and have meaningful time beyond regular school classes.”

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Soon-hee) confirmed an additional supplementary budget of 58.1 billion KRW on the 26th to promote key policy projects of the 8th local government administration.

The supplementary budget totals 58.1784 billion KRW, with about 56.8 billion KRW allocated to the general account and 1.3 billion KRW to special accounts. The funds come from the 2021 fiscal year settlement surplus, unspent national and city subsidies, financial incentives from joint evaluations of autonomous districts, and returned subsidies. As a result, Gangbuk-gu’s total budget for this year reaches approximately 960 billion KRW.

The budget will be invested in 78 projects, including key policies of the 8th local government and urgent current issues. The largest portion, 28.4 billion KRW, is allocated as a transfer to the fund for the construction of the new public-use and official-use government building.

Other budget items include ▲Pre-feasibility study for the new Gangbuk Line urban railway ▲Formation and operation of the new Gangbuk Line urban railway policy advisory group ▲Operation of redevelopment and reconstruction support teams ▲Support for the construction of a municipal children’s specialized hospital ▲Operation of a single-person household support center, among other core promises of the 8th local government.

Additionally, budgets are allocated for projects closely related to residents’ lives, such as ▲Construction of the (tentative name) Ui Art Center ▲Installation of smart rest areas ▲Creation of dog parks ▲Construction of health clinics ▲Operation of hometown love donation programs ▲Gangbuk love gift certificates.

Lee Soon-hee, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “We prepared the supplementary budget to promote key projects of the 8th local government and urgent issues to be addressed in the second half of this year. We will execute the budget cleanly and transparently for the rights and welfare of residents.”

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced on the 26th that it signed agreements with five knowledge industry centers located in Seongsu-dong as part of a parking sharing project to alleviate parking difficulties in alleyways.

The district plans to share unused parking spaces at knowledge industry centers in Seongsu-dong during nighttime and weekend hours with local residents.

Recently, Seongdong-gu has faced difficulties securing parking lots due to rising land prices. The cost of creating a single parking space can reach up to 350 million KRW, and securing land itself is not easy.

In response, Seongdong-gu has been actively promoting a parking sharing project that opens the attached parking lots of buildings such as schools, churches, and knowledge industry centers with unused parking spaces to neighboring residential areas. Incentives such as support for parking facility improvement costs and reductions in traffic inducement charges have also been implemented to encourage voluntary participation.

Seongsu-dong, which has rapidly emerged as a ‘hot place’ with increasing visitors, is a densely populated residential area. Although a public parking lot with 344 spaces was newly established at Ttukseom Retention Basin earlier this year, parking difficulties have not been fully resolved. To address this, Seongdong-gu sent promotional materials to 65 knowledge industry centers in Seongsu-dong in the first half of this year, urging participation in the parking sharing project, and the responsible department visited each center to persuade them.

As a result, a consensus on the necessity of the parking sharing project was formed during a meeting with knowledge industry centers held in August, leading to the signing of agreements with five centers with good accessibility for residents to share their attached parking lots.

The unused parking spaces (180 spaces) secured through this agreement will be allocated to merchants and residents near Seongsu-dong who are on the waiting list for priority parking starting in November. Seongdong-gu expects this project to help alleviate parking difficulties for residents in residential areas and improve parking convenience for visitors, contributing to the development of the local commercial district.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “Although the parking lot securing rate per neighborhood is increasing due to new apartment complexes and knowledge industry centers, parking difficulties remain in densely populated residential areas. We hope this agreement will help alleviate parking difficulties even a little, and we plan to actively expand the parking sharing project going forward. We look forward to many people showing interest and participating.”