Gangnam-gu Smart City Public-Private Governance Policy School Performance Sharing Meeting Results?

[Seoul District News] 50 Members of Gangnam-gu Smart City Public-Private Governance Policy Participation Group Join 2-Month Living Lab, Present 7 Policy Ideas... Gangnam-gu Gaepo4 Cultural Center Expanded to 5 Times Larger from Basement 3 to 5 Floors Above Ground

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Seongmyeong Jo) operated the ‘Smart City Public-Private Governance Policy School’ and held a performance sharing meeting at the district office on the 30th of last month to generate ideas on smart city policies and share the results.

The ‘Smart City Public-Private Governance Policy School’ is a project where residents, public officials, and experts gather to solve urban problems based on AI/ICT/SW and derive ideas to create a smart city tailored to local issues, reflecting them in policies.

In August, 50 policy participants composed of residents and public officials gathered for an inauguration ceremony and participated in a total of six training sessions. Throughout August, they attended a policy academy to strengthen their capabilities to solve local problems using ICT and held workshops. In September, a living lab was operated to help participants concretize their ideas, continuing group discussions. Four themes?▲Building resilience and ecological restoration ▲Creating a safe society ▲Low emissions and zero waste ▲Ensuring citizens’ healthy lives?were discussed in depth by groups to derive policy measures.

This performance sharing meeting introduced five ideas as outcomes of the policy school living lab: ▲Odor-free course service guidance monitoring to ensure comfortable breathing ▲Smart Forest Bus (a moving forest) ▲Opening a real-time disaster information sharing page by location and situation ▲Easy, perfect, and smart transparent PET bottle separation and disposal complex machine ▲Platform construction to solve various needs for lonely individuals, sharing ideas by theme.

Also introduced were two excellent works awarded in the policy idea contest held on the 27th of last month. The awarded ideas were ▲‘Smart Bus Route Information Booth’ for information-vulnerable groups ▲‘Kinetic Floor (Piezoelectric Block)’ that generates energy when stepped on while walking. The district plans to review the feasibility of the ideas presented at this performance sharing meeting and apply them to policies.

Seongmyeong Jo, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, stated, “We will realize policies that residents can feel based on the valuable ideas derived through residents’ opinions and passionate discussions.”

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Seongmyeong Jo) rebuilt the narrow and aging Gaepo 4-dong Community Service Center building and completed the Gaepo 4 Cultural Center on the 31st of last month, holding an opening ceremony on the 30th.

The existing Gaepo 4-dong Community Service Center, completed in 1989 with a total floor area of 825㎡, was inconvenient for residents due to the lack of convenience and cultural facilities, limited parking space, and aging facilities, making the construction of a cultural center a long-standing wish of the residents.

Accordingly, to fulfill the residents’ long-standing wish for a cultural center, the district secured the site of the public parking lot at 1204 Gaepo-dong in 2015, went through procedures such as collecting residents’ opinions and design competitions, and started construction in 2020, completing a complex building with cultural convenience facilities in two years.

The Gaepo 4 Cultural Center, completed last month, is a comfortable space more than five times larger than the previous standard, with three basement floors and five above-ground floors, totaling 4,323.23㎡. ▲Floors 1-2 house the community service center civil affairs office and resident community spaces ▲3rd floor has a library and residents’ meeting rooms ▲4th floor is the cultural center lecture rooms ▲5th floor is a multipurpose auditorium suitable for physical activities. ▲The three basement floors provide a public parking lot with a total of 43 parking spaces, four times larger than the previous parking lot, enhancing user convenience.

Additionally, it was built as an energy-saving building using renewable energy such as solar power and fuel cells, applying the highest grade of Barrier-Free (BF) certification to design a universal design considerate of socially vulnerable groups.

The community service center on the 1st floor began operations on the 19th, and the cultural center on the 4th and 5th floors, equipped with three lecture rooms and a multipurpose auditorium, will start accepting registrations from October, offering various programs such as sports and language courses. For more details, contact the Gaepo 4 Cultural Center by phone or refer to the Gangnam-gu integrated reservation site or Gangnam Cultural Foundation website.

Seongmyeong Jo, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “With the establishment of the Gaepo 4 Cultural Center, which will serve complex functions of culture, welfare, and administration, it is expected that residents’ inconvenience caused by the cramped and aging building will be resolved,” adding, “We hope it will become a warm space where local residents can communicate and enjoy cultural facilities together.”