Local governments and councils nationwide have made more than a dozen benchmarking visits over the past two years, with inquiries pouring in
Geumcheon-gu's distinctive administrative support model — including the nation's first simultaneous district-wide transition and delegated management of community centers — draws particular attention
Local governments, municipal councils and community self-governance associations from across the country continue to visit and consult Geumcheon-gu to learn from its pioneering experience running resident self-governance councils.
According to the district, the Administrative Planning Committee of the Guro-gu Council in Seoul and the autonomous administration division of Seongbuk-gu attended a residents' general assembly held in Siheung 2-dong on Wednesday afternoon.
Afterward, at 5 p.m., the visiting delegation met with Geumcheon-gu officials to discuss community self-governance. The group focused its questions on when and how the district administration had provided budgetary and administrative support for self-governance initiatives, and on the process by which the resident councils built up their own operational foundations.
Geumcheon-gu said the collaborative model it has developed between its administration and the community has been recognized as a "policy asset" that other local governments can adopt directly.
Visits and awards prove Geumcheon-gu's standing as a model city for community self-governance
In practice, Geumcheon-gu has hosted more than a dozen benchmarking visits over the past two years — from cities including Chuncheon and Donghae in Gangwon Province last year, and from Guro-gu in Seoul and Bupyeong-gu in Incheon this year, among others. Requests for advice on the delegated management of community centers, the establishment and operation of secretariats, and the running of public deliberation forums continue to pour in.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety cited Geumcheon-gu's ordinances and enforcement rules in its model ordinance template this year, and the Korea Research Institute for Local Administration visited the district to study the direction of resident council system design for local governments. Geumcheon-gu's local autonomy model has earned recognition not only in administrative practice but also in institutional design and legislation.
That recognition is reflected in the district's award record. Since 2018, Geumcheon-gu has won five prizes at the National Resident Self-Governance Expo. In 2024, the Siheung 2-dong Resident Council simultaneously won the Governance Local Politics Award and the Local Autonomy Management Award for community self-governance, and was selected as a Seoul Metropolitan Government best-practice case. In 2025, the Siheung 2-dong Resident Council won a competition marking the 30th anniversary of local autonomy, while the Gasan-dong Resident Council was named a Seoul best-practice case.
Beyond a simple system — recognized as a 'policy asset' reaching into practice and legislation
Geumcheon-gu said there is strong nationwide interest in its practical administrative support framework for community self-governance. The four most frequently cited benchmarking topics are: the nation's first simultaneous transition of all dong-level resident councils, the delegated management of community centers, the establishment and operation of secretariats along with their support systems, and the operation of public deliberation forums at residents' general assemblies.
Geumcheon-gu became the first local government in the country to organize dong-level resident self-governance councils in 2018 and was designated a leading city for resident self-governance by the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The district subsequently drew widespread attention by enacting ordinances and refining systems to promote self-governance through its own budget allocations.
Interest from local governments nationwide has converged on Geumcheon-gu in particular as resident self-governance councils — previously operated as pilot projects under Article 40 of the Special Act on Decentralization and Balanced Regional Development — are set to be transferred to and enforced under the Local Autonomy Act (Article 17-2) on Oct. 15, prompting jurisdictions across the country to prepare for the new regime.
"The trial and error Geumcheon-gu has gone through, and the process by which we overcame those challenges, have now become a valuable policy asset that other local governments can draw on," Geumcheon-gu District Mayor Choi Ki-chan said. "We will further refine our operational experience and establish ourselves as the representative city leading community self-governance across the Republic of Korea."
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