Nowon-gu Enhances Organizational Restructuring Policy Completeness... Existing Women and Family Division Split into 'Family Policy Division' and 'Childcare Support Division', Senior Welfare Division Divided into 'Aging Society Policy Division' and 'Senior Support Division'... 'Garden City Division' Newly Established, Separated from Existing Green City Division
Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will implement an organizational restructuring effective July 1st to mark the 2nd anniversary of the 8th term of the elected government.
The main directions of this organizational restructuring are ▲establishing new departments to strengthen capabilities for core task implementation ▲adjusting work areas to increase collaboration efficiency.
First, three new divisions will be established. The existing Women and Family Division will be split into the ‘Family Policy Division’ and the ‘Childcare Support Division,’ and the Senior Welfare Division will be divided into the ‘Aging Society Policy Division’ and the ‘Senior Support Division,’ thereby creating new departments.
Additionally, the ‘Garden City Division’ will be newly established, separated from the existing Green City Division.
The establishment of new departments aims to strengthen policy development functions and enhance expertise by creating independent departments and transferring tasks that were previously mixed at the team level. With this restructuring, the ‘Senior Welfare’ and ‘Family and Childcare’ sectors have been reinforced from one division and four teams each to two divisions and six teams.
Also, the Green City Division, which suffered from organizational bloat and workload saturation, including having the highest number of green-related public officials among autonomous districts, has been reorganized from one division and eight teams into two divisions and nine teams, expected to secure expertise in the fields of ‘Parks and Forests’ and ‘Gardens and Landscaping’ respectively.
On the other hand, tasks mixed across various bureaus will be reorganized to promote collaboration efficiency through linkage of similar functions.
The Education Support Division, previously under the Welfare Bureau, will be transferred to the Culture and City Administration Bureau to unify policies on lifelong learning and school-age education with the Lifelong Learning Division. The Real Estate Information Division of the Planning and Finance Bureau will move to the Urban Planning Bureau to strengthen connections in various urban development and spatial information utilization. The Bicycle Culture Team under the Traffic Guidance Division will be transferred to the Carbon Neutrality Promotion Team to accelerate leadership in eco-friendly transportation culture.
In particular, the Smart Safety Division, which oversees disaster safety and CCTV control systems, will be renamed the Safety City Division and moved to the Safety, Traffic, and Construction Bureau. This is to establish a system capable of rapid response to various disaster situations alongside departments responsible for roads and snow removal, traffic, and flood and typhoon management within the bureau.
In the early phase of the 8th term, the district was the first among local governments nationwide to elevate the environmental department to the ‘Carbon Neutrality Promotion Team’ directly under the Deputy Mayor, and established the Youth Policy Division, gaining momentum in previously lagging areas.
This recent organizational restructuring is evaluated as reinforcing areas where the district has continuously achieved good results.
The Nowon-type childcare policy series, represented by the nation’s first ‘Sick Child Care Center’ and the ‘I-Hu Center,’ which became the model for Seoul’s Kiwoom Centers, has become a benchmark for many local governments. The senior welfare administration, including the ‘Nowon Senior Counseling Center’ and the ‘Senior Job Support Center,’ which are the first in the country to adopt direct management rather than consignment, also enjoys strong support from residents. The district has received re-certification as a child-friendly city at a higher level from the UNICEF Korea Committee and re-certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Age-friendly City International Network.
Lastly, in the park and green space sector, achievements have been made by creating regional ‘Healing Towns’ and neighborhood ‘Rest Gardens’ while extensively improving aging parks. Recently, the Hydrangea Hill at Choan Mountain was also opened, attracting residents’ visits.
Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “To proactively respond to the changing administrative environment, the way we work and our systems must also lead the way to bring vitality to the organization. We will eliminate inefficiencies and continue to leverage our strengths to provide administrative services that meet residents’ expectations.”
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