Seongdong-gu Initiates Creation of a '15-Minute City'

N-Minute Living Zone... Accelerating the Creation of Seongdong-type 15-Minute City

On the 19th, held a ‘15-Minute City Idea Workshop’ with 60 residents at the 3rd-floor auditorium of the district office

‘Paris 15-Minute City Project’ held in Seongdong-gu... Providing high-quality services close to daily life

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu (left), is seen with residents sharing various opinions at the Seongdong-gu 15-Minute City Idea Workshop.

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) held a ‘15-Minute City Idea Workshop’ with residents on the 19th at the 3rd-floor auditorium of Seongdong District Office.

This inaugural event aimed to broaden the understanding between residents and local governments regarding the services provided by the city.

The workshop was developed by Chaire ETI (Entrepreneuriat Territoire Innovation) under Sorbonne University in Paris. It has been conducted in major cities in France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, and Denmark, and Seongdong-gu is the first city in Korea to host it.

A representative example is the 15-Minute City project by Anne Hidalgo, the current mayor of Paris. Carlos Moreno, a professor at Sorbonne University who advised on this project, argues that society’s quality improves when diverse social classes live together in balance and integration.

Based on this foundation, the 15-Minute City, which he conceptualized for the first time in the world, is a city that provides high-quality services close to individuals’ daily lives, thereby enhancing quality of life. In other words, it refers to a city where essential functions needed for daily living can be accessed within 15 minutes.

The event opened with a congratulatory video and lecture by Professor Moreno, attended by about 60 residents, community activists, and city and district council members. This was followed by a lecture on urban proximity by urban designer Han Seung-hoon, and a hands-on program where participants formed groups of four.

Participants analyzed the spatial and temporal dimensions of the daily lives of a fictional persona within the radius of the city, district, or neighborhood level. Collaborating in groups, they recorded the persona’s daily life on large sheets of paper, focusing on six essential social functions discussed in the ‘15-Minute City’: housing, health, education, leisure, and others. Through this, they examined how daily activities relate to proximity and shared various ideas to solve situations using crisis cards.

Seongdong-gu aims to create an inclusive city where opportunities and services provided by the city are enjoyed by all without discrimination based on race, income, gender, or age. To this end, since the 7th local government administration, it has adopted ‘Smart Inclusive City’ as its slogan, aiming to enable everyone to benefit from the city through smart technology.

Representative examples include the Seongdong-type smart crosswalks and smart rest areas.

Additionally, in May 2022, Seongdong-gu announced the ‘2040 Seongdong Urban Development Master Plan’ for sustainable and systematic development. This comprehensive development plan sets the future vision for Seongdong’s urban development by 2040, encompassing major policies and projects of the district, and is currently establishing detailed implementation plans reflecting residents’ opinions.

An official from the district said, “Through this workshop, residents will look back on the changes in Seongdong-gu over the past decade and actively reflect the ideas discovered in the workshop into district administration.”

Jeong Won-oh, mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “While physical infrastructure within N-minute distances is important to strengthen urban inclusiveness, residents’ participation is the key. I hope this workshop will serve as an opportunity to understand the services provided by the city and the diverse lives of individuals, and for everyone to create the city together.”