Opening of Nowon-gu Hwarangdae Railroad Park 'Nowon Train Village - Swiss Hall'

[Seoul District News] Nowon-gu Opens Miniature Exhibition Hall Relocating Switzerland on the 17th, Open to Residents from the 18th & 17 Model Trains at 1/87 Scale Running in a Meticulously Crafted Swiss Diorama ... Seocho-gu Selected as Best District in This Year’s ‘Seoul City Urban Cleanliness Evaluation,’ Recognized as the Cleanest City & Highly Rated for ‘Emergency Public-Private Flood Cleanup’ and ‘Creating Alleyways in Front of Homes’ Projects ... Gangseo-gu Promotes ‘QR Code Tax Bill Production’ Project Related to Vehicle Tax

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will open the ‘Nowon Train Village - Swiss Pavilion,’ featuring intricate dioramas and train models, at Hwarangdae Railroad Park on the 17th.

The newly established Nowon Train Village at Hwarangdae Railroad Park covers a total floor area of 444.71㎡ and includes an observatory on the first floor that offers a panoramic view of the entire exhibition hall. It displays meticulously crafted dioramas (scale models) inspired by the Alpine peaks and Swiss cities, which are world-renowned tourist destinations.

The exhibition hall centers around a 4.4m model of the Matterhorn in the Alps, with the Jungfrau and Mont Blanc mountain ranges spreading out around it. Visitors can enjoy over 50 dioramas recreating Switzerland’s beautiful natural scenery and famous tourist spots, along with train models running between them.

Seventeen moving train models, scaled down to 1/87 of real trains, run continuously on a total track length of 410m with 14 rails installed within the diorama.

The diorama, which feels like a faithful reproduction of Switzerland, incorporates entertaining stories such as ‘Heidi, Girl of the Alps,’ ‘Landslide and Rescue Team Dispatch,’ and ‘Lucerne Carnival,’ adding to the exhibition’s appeal.

Lighting is used to create a night scene contrasting with the daytime view of Switzerland, stimulating visitors’ interest. Every 10 minutes, when the overall lighting dims, the diorama lights gradually brighten, allowing visitors to experience Switzerland’s nightscape with a different charm from the daytime.

The exhibition also features various technologies. Visitors can press buttons installed throughout the exhibition hall to activate 34 dioramas, and augmented reality experience monitors are installed to enable dynamic and interactive viewing.

Additionally, for the convenience of children visiting Nowon Train Village, stepping stools are installed at child height, allowing them to touch and operate the train models directly in an experience zone, which can also be used as educational content.

Nowon Train Village will hold an opening ceremony on the 17th and open to residents from the 18th. Operating hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays (closed Mondays) and weekends, except on Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays (last admission at 6 p.m.).

The exhibition hall admits visitors on a first-come, first-served basis without prior reservation. Admission fees are 2,000 KRW for adults and 1,000 KRW for youth and children, with a 50% discount for Nowon-gu residents, seniors, persons with disabilities, and veterans.

The district plans to further develop the train village as a representative tourist attraction by adding various attractions, including the upcoming Italian Pavilion as the second hall following the Swiss Pavilion at Hwarangdae Railroad Park.

Railroad Park is a representative attraction of Nowon-gu, created by transforming the closed Hwarangdae Station on the Gyeongchun Line, which was discontinued due to the double-tracking project completed at the end of 2010, into a cultural park.

The existing railroad tracks and simple station buildings are preserved to maintain their unique charm, and visitors can see various real trains such as the Mika steam locomotive, narrow-gauge trains, and trams from the Czech Republic and Japan. The park has been reborn as a healing space for all ages with a Time Museum made by modifying the Mugunghwa train and a train caf? where a small train delivers beverages.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “Trains are a medium that connects generations, bringing dreams and hopes to children and memories to adults. I hope that Nowon Train Village, which has been carefully completed over a long period, will offer special enjoyment and experiences to residents and visitors alike.”

Seocho-gu (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) was recognized as the cleanest district among Seoul’s autonomous districts by receiving the top prize in the ‘2022 Seoul City Cleanliness Evaluation’ conducted by Seoul citizens.

The ‘Seoul City Cleanliness Evaluation’ is a project initiated by Seoul City in 2019 to assess and announce cleanliness levels by district from the citizens’ perspective, encouraging the creation of pleasant street environments.

The evaluation criteria include seven categories: ▲on-site cleanliness ▲citizen satisfaction ▲road cleaning performance ▲special projects promoting citizen participation ▲illegal dumping crackdown performance, among others.

In particular, on-site cleanliness was assessed using a ‘mystery shopper’ method, where 1,000 citizens posed as users to visit and evaluate the sites.

Seocho-gu attributed its first-place achievement to exemplary cases such as the ‘Emergency Public-Private Joint Cleanup at Flood Damage Sites,’ which swiftly collected flood debris caused by summer heavy rains, and the resident-led back alley cleaning project, ‘Creating Seoripul Alley in Front of My House.’

The ‘Emergency Public-Private Joint Cleanup at Flood Damage Sites’ involved 1,885 participants who collected 1,205 tons of waste and handled 757 complaint requests.

The ‘Creating Seoripul Alley in Front of My House’ project promotes voluntary resident cleaning activities and environmental improvements by expanding CCTV for illegal dumping control, installing design sculptures, and maintaining cleaning collection bins to reduce illegal dumping.

Additionally, the district expanded and operated the Seoripul Cleaning Task Force, distributed the mobile app ‘Bbaegi’ for large waste disposal, and installed smart collection bins to promote separate collection of transparent PET bottles, receiving positive feedback from residents.

Going forward, the district plans to continue various efforts such as special management of residential back alleys, expanding voluntary resident cleaning participation, sustained intensive crackdowns on illegal dumping, and expanding the installation of logo projectors to prevent illegal dumping.

Mayor Jeon Seong-su said, “This award is the result of the combined efforts of residents and Seocho colleagues working together for a ‘Clean City Seocho.’ We will continue to strive to create a clean and pleasant environment where everyone wants to stay, befitting the city ranked number one in cleanliness.”

Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Kim Tae-woo) has introduced a ‘QR Code Tax Notice’ that allows residents to watch automobile tax guidance videos, enhancing convenience for residents.

Since cars are frequently bought and sold, scrapped, or modified, automobile tax is imposed regularly, but many residents were unaware of related tax laws and either inquired at the district office or paid without understanding the details.

Accordingly, the district is promoting the issuance of ‘QR Code Tax Notices’ to improve understanding of automobile tax and reduce resistance to tax payments.

By scanning the QR code at the top of the tax notice with a smartphone camera, a virtual YouTuber (a penguin) appears to guide residents through commonly overlooked or curious automobile tax topics by category.

The content covers frequently asked questions received by automobile tax officials via phone, such as ▲payment of automobile tax after vehicle transfer or scrapping ▲tax payment for persons with severe disabilities ▲cases when the payment period on the notice has passed, among others.

The district plans to pilot the QR code service on about 1,000 tax notices for the November automobile tax installment and provide the service on approximately 20,000 notices annually.

In addition to automobile tax payment guidance, the service will also provide information about district administration, including cultural events and resident welfare, linked with Gangseo-gu’s YouTube channel.

The district expects that diversifying complaint response methods beyond telephone counseling will improve resident service satisfaction and administrative efficiency.

Mayor Kim Tae-woo said, “The QR Code Tax Notice, which has the dual effect of improving payment convenience and promoting district administration, is a good example of improving work methods. We will continue to reduce simple repetitive tasks and develop various ideas tailored to residents’ perspectives to enhance resident satisfaction.”