Over 220,000 ideas suggested through the Imagination Bank over the past five years
A total of 4,664 ideas were collected, which means 466 ideas a year, during the period of ten years from 1997 to 2006. With the introduction of the Imagination Bank in July 2006, however, 21,151 ideas were collected in the second half of 2006, 26,607 in 2007, and 37,660 in 2008, which represents an average of 28,472 ideas, annually. In 2009, when the suggestion system was upgraded, roughly 15,000 civil servants with Seoul City proposed over 100,000 ideas, which is equivalent to seven ideas per person. The ideas that were accepted by the city were put into action in diverse areas ranging from work processes to policy making. The following are some of the major examples of how a small idea becomes a huge reality.
Moonlight Rainbow Fountain and Hangang High Wire World Championships
The Moonlight Rainbow Fountain was born out of the idea that a bridge fountain would give the citizens crossing the submerged bridge the impression that they were driving through a waterfall, while visitors near the waterfront area could appreciate a bridge that spouts water like a waterfall. The 1140m-long bridge fountain has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest bridge fountain and a new landmark in Seoul.
The guidelines for spring management created by the Ministry of Environment require each district to post the water quality test result of each spring under its jurisdiction. However, as the majority of citizens are not familiar with the technical aspects of water quality and the test results are written in too small a font to read, a public servant suggested a traffic light-like color code system to indicate the water quality as the following: red indicates that the water quality of the spring in question is unsatisfactory, green indicates satisfactory and amber that water quality has been retested after an unsatisfactory test result. Thanks to the traffic light-like color code system, citizens could readily tell the water quality of the springs in their districts.
The Hang River High Wire World Championships was also born from Imagination Bank. Established today as a major tourism product in Seoul, the competition, in which competitors cross a 1.1 km-long tightrope tied across the Han River, lures the world’s top tightrope walkers every year and showcases their dazzling feats of skill with the beautiful river as the backdrop to Seoulites and visitors from around the world.
Last but not least, Seoul City’s water supply facilities are equipped with roughly 180,000 valve boxes and the loose bolts in these often cause water leakages (over 400 cases a year). Since some of the valve boxes are located in narrow areas and hence not readily accessible, Seoul City had to dig up the valve box areas, in the past, so as to tighten the bolts, which is time and money consuming and inconvenient. However, today, Seoul City no longer has to dig up the road to tighten bolts and stop water leaks thanks to the brilliant idea of inventing a tool with which to tighten the bolts in the valve boxes by simply opening the iron lids of the valve boxes. With the newly invented tool, Seoul City can now save 163 million won annually without sacrificing the comfort and convenience of its citizens.
Imagination Bank as a driver of learning in everyday life
The Imagination Bank has turned many ideas into a reality and contributed to improving the quality of Seoulites’ everyday lives and the efficient and economical delivery of public services. Also, it has motivated public servants to look within themselves for ideas to better serve the public and make learning a part of their lives in order to embody creative city governance.
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