Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hun) announced on July 27 that the district won the grand prize in the 2019 Manifesto Competition for Nationwide Local Government Heads held on the Sejong Campus of Korea University.

 The prize was given in recognition of the district’s urban regeneration, designed to revitalize communities, integrate generations and support projects for the youth. The prize is very significant in that Gangdong-gu was the only autonomous district in Seoul to win the grand prize in the field of urban regeneration.

Gangdong-gu became the third most populous district in Seoul, with a population of 550,000, in 2024 owing to the completion of Dunchon Jugong—the country's biggest reconstruction complex—and the string of ongoing reconstruction projects now under way downtown.

Gangdong-gu is transforming itself to be a glamorous town amid this notable expansion, but the lives of residents living there are hard enough. Rapid urbanization causes the gaps between regions and classes to widen and young people, in particular, begin to forsake and hang it up rather than having hope and passion.

 Against this backdrop, the office supported the formation of resident networks by creating shared communities, integrating generations, as the promised project of the 7th administration by popular vote, and is working on a plan to lay the groundwork for young people to grow by establishing the youth start-up support center.

Seongnae Eoulteo, which opened last October, was created as a space embracing all generations, from children to senior citizens, to help them communicate naturally. As a result, office rentals increased about 3.5 times and users rose about 2.5 times as of June this year, eight months later. “Fragrance Dream,“ a senior village community based on Seongnaeeoulteo, carries out a project to share the dining table to provide comfort to weary and tired youngsters and communicate while sharing warm homemade foods in the Eoulteo shared kitchen every month.

The project to create the Angel Workshop Street began with the aim of refurbishing harmful businesses that flooded Seongnae-dong and creating jobs for young people. Gangdong-gu Office's provision of rental spaces and start-up expenses enabled the young armed with excellent skills and craftsmanship not to give up on their dreams merely because of money. Consequently, the number of harmful businesses declined from 36 to 12 within less than three years, and 17 various workshops, including those dealing with handicraft, desserts and chopsticks, have been built to inject vigor into the street.

In addition, Gangdong-gu won the Communication Grand Prize in the 2019 Youth Friendship Award for its robust youth policies, including Youth Maru, the Youth Can-do Center, Social Town, Our Village 598 Mission and the Youth Village Festival, and its project to relocate stray cats in the Dunchon Jugong reconstruction complex was evaluated as an example to spread the value of coexistence.

The competition, co-hosted by the Korea Manifesto Center and the Daejeon Sejong Research Institute, was conducted for two days on July 24 and 25, and 176 out of 343 pledges made it to the finals. Gangdong-gu applied for job creation, economy and urban regeneration out of seven possible sectors, and became a finalist in two sectors—winning the grand prize in the urban regeneration sector.

“I will accept this honor as a symbol that I have to fulfill my pledges faithfully by listening to the opinions of residents. I will do my best to resolve our urban problems to make Gangdong-gu a livable city filled with warm affection,“ said Mayor Lee Jung-hun.

  <Related Photos>

         
Officials of Gangdong-gu Office pose for the camera after winning the grand prize in the Manifesto Competition on July 26, 2019.