Seongdong-gu seeks residents' ideas for 2027 public-private governance projects

Seoul's Seongdong-gu announced it will accept online proposals for its "2027 Public-Private Governance Project" from June 5 through June 19.

Public-private governance, as the district defines it, is a process in which residents identify community problems that are difficult for the administration to detect on its own, then work alongside officials to develop actionable solutions. The key principle is that residents participate as equal partners with the administration at every stage — from identifying issues and planning to implementing projects and evaluating results.

Seongdong-gu has been building a public-private cooperation framework since 2017 to lay the groundwork for sustainable local development. Last year, the process of selecting governance implementation projects drew 37 proposed agenda items through an online call for submissions and a public deliberation forum.

This round of submissions is designed to gather residents' views on local issues that directly affect daily life and to identify governance agenda items for joint discussion between residents and the administration.

Any Seongdong-gu resident may participate, as may workers and university students based in the district. Proposals may be submitted in three categories: welfare and happiness (education and welfare), sustainability (urban environment), and communication and cooperation (community self-governance). Submissions should focus on project ideas that improve residents' quality of life and contribute to local development.

Proposals received through this call will go through a deliberative public forum, followed by administrative review, a resident vote and final approval by the Seongdong-gu Governance Council, before being considered as candidate agenda items for next year's public-private governance projects.

A district official said the initiative is "a process in which residents can directly propose the inconveniences they experience in daily life and the ideas they have for changing Seongdong-gu, and then work together to find solutions."