The district's budget coordination council selected 42 projects totaling 1.52 billion won; final approval is expected through the Gwanak-gu Council in December before implementation begins in 2027.
Gwanak-gu held a participatory budget coordination council meeting Thursday and finalized the selection of 42 projects worth a total of 1.5 billion won ($1.1 million) to be carried out in 2027.
The participatory budget system allows residents to take part directly in the budget-planning process alongside the district government — proposing, reviewing and selecting projects that address local inconveniences, fulfill long-standing community needs and improve residents' quality of life.
To ensure that residents' input translates into concrete projects, the district runs the participatory budget system through multiple channels, including public forums, neighborhood participatory budget meetings and the online Gwanak-cheong platform, as part of its commitment to open and collaborative governance.
A total of 279 project proposals were received through an ongoing open call that began in June last year and a concentrated 42-day solicitation period held from April to May this year.
Each proposed project was reviewed by the relevant department for compliance with applicable laws, feasibility, urgency and necessity, then examined by five subcommittees. The proposals subsequently went through a budget department review and an operations committee before the coordination council — comprising both civic and government members — gave final deliberation and approval.
This year, for the first time, the district also conducted an online resident vote through its official website to more actively reflect residents' preferences in the final project selection.
The 42 projects selected span a wide range of areas within the 1.52 billion won budget. They include support for online promotion to revitalize local alley-type commercial districts, expanded support for crime victim home-safety kits, a remodeling of the Euncheon-dong neighborhood plaza, installation of bicycle storage facilities near Sindaebang Station to improve pedestrian conditions and encourage cycling, and youth employment support to build practical skills in the AI field and strengthen young people's job competitiveness.
Reflecting the district's status as the area with the highest proportion of young residents in the country, four new projects targeting youth will be launched. They include professional resume photo support for young job seekers and a companion-plant clinic for single-person youth households called "Chorok Swimteo."
The 42 selected projects will go before the Gwanak-gu Council for deliberation and approval in December, after which each department will begin full implementation in 2027.
Members of the participatory budget committee will conduct ongoing monitoring of the 2027 projects, assessing factors such as the original intent of each proposal, resident satisfaction and overall effectiveness. The process is expected not only to ensure transparency in execution but also to raise broader public awareness of the participatory budget system.
Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee said the district would redouble its efforts to build a community where residents thrive together through continuous communication. "I hope that residents' voices will continue to be actively reflected in the budget so that people can go about their daily lives without inconvenience," he said.
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