Thirty-three projects shortlisted from 137 resident proposals underwent in-depth review Wednesday to determine whether they will be included in next year's Seodaemun-gu budget.
Seodaemun-gu held a full review session Wednesday evening at the district office's main auditorium to select projects for its 2027 participatory budget, with more than 100 members of the 16th Participatory Budget Committee in attendance, the district said.
Committee members debated each project directly, weighing its necessity, feasibility, benefit to residents and cost-effectiveness.
The participatory budget system is a representative form of resident-led local governance in which community members take part directly in the budget-drafting process, proposing and deciding on projects their neighborhoods need. Through the system, the district gathers a wide range of resident voices while strengthening transparency and democratic accountability in local administration.
The district had earlier accepted 137 resident proposals through an open call for participatory budget projects. After a review by relevant district departments and a first-round on-site inspection by committee members, 33 projects advanced to Wednesday's full review.
Committee members had visited the proposed project sites in person last month to assess conditions on the ground. On Wednesday they conducted a comprehensive review of each project through subcommittee presentations and in-depth discussions.
Lee Chung-gyu, chair of the 16th Participatory Budget Committee, who presided over the session, said the committee had evaluated the projects from multiple angles "so that the valuable proposals put forward directly by residents can be carried out with real impact."
District Mayor Park Woon-ki attended the session in person, exchanging views with committee members and observing the proposals and review process. He pledged active district-level support to ensure that promising ideas translate into concrete policy.
"We will continue to expand the scale and scope of the participatory budget to keep resident voices at the center of district governance, and we will do everything we can to ensure that residents' proposals lead to real policies and budget allocations," Park said.
Projects that pass this review will go through a resident vote and budget confirmation process before being incorporated into Seodaemun-gu's main budget for 2027.
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