Public Officials Present 'Creative Administration' Proposals on the 25th
Ideas Include Tumbler Upcycling
Integrated Management System for Urban Planning Projects Wins Grand Prize
"I have too many tumblers at home..."
"Is there a way to see all the urban planning projects happening in Seoul at once?"
On June 25, public officials presented their 'creative administration' ideas, designed to solve everyday inconveniences faced by citizens, at the multipurpose hall on the 8th floor of Seoul City Hall. From April to May, members of Seoul City, district offices, and affiliated organizations submitted 701 proposals, and 10 were selected through a public vote.
The proposal that won the grand prize at the creative presentation event was the "Integrated Management System for Urban Planning Projects" by the Urban Planning Permanent Planning Division of the Seoul Urban Space Headquarters. The results were based on evaluations by a panel of 10 experts and 100 citizen judges. Baek Youngja, head of the Urban Spatial Information Team, said, "It all started with a civil complaint received in March last year," and explained, "The request was to provide a way to view all city-led projects such as Moa Town, redevelopment, and reconstruction at a glance, but until now there was no system offering all this information in one place for free." This project is scheduled to launch at the end of next month under the name 'Seoul Plan+.' Any citizen will be able to view information on approximately 26,000 urban planning projects in the city at a glance via mobile or PC.
Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon is taking a commemorative photo with attendees at the Yakjadonghaeng Charming Seoul Creative Presentation held on the 25th. Provided by Seoul City
The "Sleeping Tumbler Donation Project" by the Climate and Environment Headquarters, which received the Encouragement Award, also received a positive response. This is a type of upcycling campaign in which unused tumblers collected from homes are cleaned, redesigned, and then distributed to public welfare facilities. Jeong Miseon, head of the Resource Circulation Division, said, "To truly be considered eco-friendly, a tumbler must be reused at least 220 times, but in reality, the average number of uses is just about 45 times," adding, "A public institution's social circulation system is needed to move underused tumblers to places where they are needed and bring them back to life."
After the presentations, questions followed. Lee Dongsoo, honorary mayor of Seoul for the future generation sector and head of the Youth Politics Crew, asked, "Is there any distinction between plastic and stainless steel tumblers?" Jeong replied, "Plastic bottles that are simply used to hold water have no value; they must have thermal insulation or cooling functions."
Currently, about 5,600 creative administration ideas have been proposed in Seoul, and 123 of them have been reflected in actual policies. One representative example is the transfer system that allows subway re-entry within 15 minutes. Previously, if a passenger boarded the wrong train due to confusion on the platform or exited the ticket gate to use the restroom, re-entering the subway would result in double the fare, causing inconvenience. This issue has now been resolved.
The Donghaeng Store 'Ongi Warehouse,' which recently opened its third location in Yeongdeungpo, is also the result of a creative administration proposal. The distribution of donated goods, which used to be uniform and indiscriminate, was changed to a convenience store format where recipients can choose freely, eliminating the need for first-come, first-served lines. These initiatives received the Central Excellent Proposal Silver Prize (Presidential Award) and Bronze Prize (Prime Minister's Award), respectively.
As these proposals lead to tangible policy outcomes, public officials are actively participating. The rewards are also generous, ranging from 1 million won for the Encouragement Award to 8 million won for the Grand Prize. Members of each participating department cheered enthusiastically, holding banners and placards. One Seoul City official said, "It's a great opportunity for the individual public officials who come up with ideas, so everyone is eager to participate." A city official added, "Until now, this event was held internally, but for the first time, it was held in a larger space with citizens, creating a supportive atmosphere."
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