Assemblies run sequentially from Wednesday through Sept. 10, with online and in-person early voting running in parallel to broaden participation; residents across all 17 neighborhoods will directly identify and vote on autonomous plans and projects for next year.
Seongdong-gu in Seoul will hold its "2026 Residents' Assembly" at community centers and other venues across all 17 of its neighborhoods from Wednesday through Sept. 10, giving residents a direct say in identifying and deciding on local projects.
The assembly is open to anyone who lives in or is registered as a resident of the respective neighborhood. It serves as the district's core participatory decision-making body, where residents share and make final decisions on autonomous community projects and participatory budgeting initiatives needed for the following year.
Ahead of the assemblies, the district has been running both online and in-person early voting to gather input from as many residents as possible. Online early voting runs from Aug. 3 through Sept. 7, while in-person early voting is available at designated locations in each neighborhood from Aug. 11 through Sept. 7.
At each assembly, the early voting results will be presented alongside the agenda items developed through a process led by each neighborhood's residents' autonomy council. Residents will then cast final votes to set the priorities for participatory budgeting projects aimed at addressing local issues.
Residents will choose from a range of projects — from pressing community concerns directly tied to daily life to initiatives that reflect each neighborhood's distinct character. Plans and projects confirmed through the assemblies will go through the relevant procedures and be carried out as actual projects in each neighborhood in 2027.
The neighborhood-level assemblies will be held sequentially at community centers and other venues from Wednesday through Sept. 10. Detailed schedules, venues, and early voting locations for each neighborhood are available on the Seongdong-gu website.
"The residents' assembly is the true flower of local self-governance — a place where residents themselves think about and decide the future of the neighborhood they call home," District Mayor Yoo Bo-hwa said. "We will spare no support to ensure that residents' valuable proposals bear fruit as real change in the community."
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