Busan First as a 15-Minute City... Selected as a Key Project for the 'Okcheon Sky Road Development'

On the 27th at 4 p.m., Busan City held the ‘1st 15-Minute City Vision Tour Season 2’ at the Saha District Office auditorium.

15-Minute City Vision Tour Season 2, Saha-gu Edition Event.

This event was organized to identify key representative tasks for the early realization of the 15-minute city by increasing local community interest and participation, and to directly select these representative tasks to support prompt implementation.

At the event held in the Saha District Office auditorium, key figures representing Busan City and Saha District gathered, including Mayor Park Hyung-jun, Saha District Mayor Lee Gap-jun, Superintendent of Education Ha Yoon-soo, National Assembly members Cho Kyung-tae and Choi In-ho, Dong-A University President Lee Hae-woo, Korea Securities Depository President Lee Soon-ho, and Chairman of the Saha District Business Development Council Choi Geum-sik. They spent time discussing the strategies and plans for the 15-minute city Busan.

Notably, about 300 audience evaluators were present to directly select the representative 15-minute city tasks, adding greater significance to the event.

The event was divided into two parts. In the first part, Mayor Park Hyung-jun, Superintendent Ha Yoon-soo, and Saha District Mayor Lee Gap-jun each gave briefings on the progress and plans for the 15-minute city Busan, the creation of a school-centered 15-minute city, and the vision for the 15-minute city in Saha, respectively.

This was followed by presentations on representative policy tasks of Saha District, reflecting vivid on-site experiences as members of the local community.

Mayor Park stated, “The 15-minute city is the urban foundation for becoming a global hub city, and its core lies in citizen happiness,” emphasizing the importance of relationships. “The 15-minute city is not merely a policy tool but a solution on how to live, focusing on restoring relationships with people, discovering community, and changing ways of thinking and living within it. This philosophy is the most important,” he said, reiterating the significance of restoring such relationships.

Next, Superintendent Ha Yoon-soo presented on the ‘School-Centered 15-Minute City Strategy.’ “Schools are the basic units of living areas and central facilities. To create a 15-minute living area city, school facilities must be revitalized as community exchange hubs through complex utilization,” he explained.

▲ In the second part, there was a panel discussion and Q&A session with the audience, providing additional explanations and support regarding the policy tasks.

The discussion featured active debates on the necessity and further explanations of each policy task. Notably, all panelists shared the common view that the three previously presented policy tasks are all essential for the 15-minute city in Saha, and regardless of which task is selected, they pledged full cooperation for the 15-minute city Saha creation project.

▲ The highlight of the day’s event was the selection by about 300 audience evaluators through voting of the “Gamcheon Cheonma Village Okcheon Sky Path Construction Project” as the representative 15-minute Saha task.

Cheonma Village is a highland area difficult to develop independently, characterized by steep slopes, narrow alleys, and stairs, which have long caused considerable inconvenience to residents.

Especially with many elderly residents, dangerous situations such as falls frequently occurred during rain or snow. Therefore, this sky path construction project was a necessary initiative to prevent safety accidents and improve the previously disconnected accessibility.

The scenic views from the highland are excellent, offering tourism benefits. Moreover, by transforming the inconvenient narrow alleys and slopes into spaces for meeting and exchange, the local community is revitalized, perfectly aligning with the values of the 15-minute city, which garnered strong support from the policy evaluation group.

A city official stated, “Since the Gamcheon Cheonma Village Okcheon Sky Path Construction Project was proposed by citizens, the city will spare no administrative and financial support to ensure its successful implementation,” adding, “Furthermore, detailed planning and budget procurement methods will be concretized, and progress will be reported by the end of this year.”