Yeongdeungpo-gu puts 10 local issues — including data center dispute — before 200-resident assembly

Yeongdeungpo-gu is bringing 10 local issues — including a dispute over data center construction — before its "minhoe," a resident-led direct democracy body, and will work with 200 district residents to find solutions.

The district announced Thursday that it had finalized both the 10 agenda items to be discussed at the minhoe and the 200 residents who will take part in the deliberations.

The minhoe is Yeongdeungpo-gu's resident participation system in which community members directly debate local issues and set policy direction. The district accepted agenda submissions online and in person from Oct. 7 to Oct. 30, then selected 10 topics based on their relevance to local conditions and the level of resident interest.

The 10 agenda items are: resolving conflicts over data center construction near residential areas; an AI-assisted job training program for middle-aged residents and career returners; expansion of cultural spaces for youth; public use of Times Square Plaza; improvements to pedestrian infrastructure; expansion and sharing of parking in densely populated residential areas; the direction of a new integrated district office building; building a birth- and child-rearing-friendly city; integrated care services for elderly residents and people with severe disabilities; and a day-of-the-week recycling system sorted by material type.

The agenda spans a wide range — from contentious community issues where stakeholder interests may clash, such as the data center dispute and the new integrated district office, to policies closely tied to residents' daily lives, including AI employment, parking and care services.

The 200 participants were selected through open recruitment and random lottery, with slots allocated in proportion to each neighborhood's population to ensure broad representation and prevent any single area or demographic from dominating.

The participants will debate and vote on all 10 agenda items at a pre-debate session set for 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at the gymnasium on the fifth floor of the Yeongdeungpo-dong Community Service Center. Through that process, they will narrow the list down to roughly three representative topics to be addressed in depth at the grand forum on Dec. 3.

At the grand forum, scheduled for 2 p.m. Dec. 3 at the main gymnasium on the first floor of the Singil Chaengmaru Cultural Center, participants will go through in-depth debate and deliberation on the selected agenda items before reaching final decisions on specific projects. The district plans to actively incorporate the residents' conclusions into its administration.

An online forum will run alongside the in-person sessions for residents who cannot attend in person. It is open to applicants who were not selected among the 200 in-person participants; they can join via a URL sent by text message timed to coincide with each session.

"The minhoe is a symbolic project of Yeongdeungpo, a constitutional city where residents lead the district's governance directly," a district official said. "We will do our utmost to ensure that the decisions residents reach through transparent and fair deliberation translate into real change in how the district is run."