Children take part in the "Children's Yongyong Lab" in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. [Yongsan-gu]
Children take part in the "Children's Yongyong Lab" in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. [Yongsan-gu]

Yongsan-gu in Seoul announced Monday that it had launched the "Children's Yongyong Lab," an initiative to incorporate children's perspectives into its lifestyle safety design project. The Yongyong Lab is Yongsan-gu's participatory urban problem-solving workshop, going directly into communities to identify local issues and find solutions alongside residents.

The district introduced the children's edition this year to bring a younger viewpoint to the project, holding two sessions at Samgwang Elementary School in Huam-dong between June and July. Students identified safety hazards in their surroundings — including illegal dumping, traffic dangers, smoking and inadequate lighting — and shared their observations. They then walked the streets around the school together, examining pedestrian conditions and pinpointing stretches where students face danger during their commute or where vehicle and foot traffic converge.

The district has been running the community outreach program, known as the Yongyong Lab, since June 18 last year. Last year's sessions focused on the eastern stretch of Hangang-daero 21-ga-gil, a street that had become a popular destination and was generating a range of neighborhood conflicts; that round wrapped up in January.


cook@heraldcorp.com