Questions/Answers
Question 1
Please provide a brief summary of the initiative including the problems/challenges it addressed and the solutions that the initiative introduced (300 words maximum)
① These densely-packed slivers of living space—smaller than 3.3m2 per room—exist in a very harsh environment that does not secure basic human rights and lacks basic living facilities including public baths, shower rooms and laundry facilities. Despite this, sliver rooms have been pushed down on the public service policy and budget support priority list.
② While welfare demand is high, most residents are unaware of welfare policies or don’t access the proper welfare services.
① The village workshop was built for community activities and the promotion of self-support on the basis of basic living facilities as a part of the endeavor to create a safe and pleasant village.
Area: 5 ground floors. Floor area of 532.51㎡
Functions :
Operation of community support office
Securing urgently required living facilities
Community space for community activities
② Implementation of various kinds of policies for making a livable space.
Support for home repair (public budget support)
Home repair in cooperation with private enterprises
Fire prevention and fire safety management
Public refrigerator and laundry
Other: Replacement with LED lamps (585 lamps), safety rail along steep stairs (16 rails for 10 households).
③ Strengthening security patrol
④ Community activity enabling single residents to communicate with each other and support for employments
Happy Village School suitable for residents in sliver rooms: Classes, Health programs and employment, etc.
Hope Meal: The Hope Meal program is for those who have difficulty in eating on their own because of a lack of cooking facilities.
Donui-dong Hongbanjang, a community butler: Four Hongbanjang were selected among the residents of the sliver rooms to help residents to solve inconveniences.
Joint ancestral service and village funeral
Sliver Rooms Care Mind 1st Happy Street: Self-help group for alcoholics and special recovery program from alcohol dependency
a. What are the overall objectives of the initiative?
Please describe the overall objectives of the initiative (200 words maximum)
Make Donui-dong a village that can be the ‘hope nest’ for the residents in the vulnerable class.
① Create a safe and pleasant village by augmenting the insufficient urban infrastructure.
② Create a living space where people can live by supporting home renovation to improve the harsh residential environment.
③ Promote self-support by creating jobs and facilitate ways for the community village to restore relationships among neighbors
b. How does the initiative fit within the selected category?
Please describe how the initiative is linked to the criteria of the category (200 words maximum)
Expansion of the support for the destitute and vulnerable class through extensive service and partnership
Innovative political institutions and quality service>
① Residential Category: Maintenance of the physical environment
Construction of community facilities and workshop: 5 ground floors.
Support for home repair: Repairs to 22 homes
② Community activities
Happy Village School: Hope Meal, Singing Class, Practical Engraving, Clubs and others.
Publication of 『Dream of One Pyeong_Donui-dong Women』, an oral life history
Community Newsletter: Donui-dong Saetteul Village Newsletter once a month. (26th edition has been published).
③ Job policy: Providing jobs for the vulnerable residents and meeting the needs of the village through the projects required in the village
Donui-dong Hongbanjang (Public jobs)
Gilpum door-to-door delivery
④ Hope Bankbook: Support for linking supporters to low-income residents who have a strong desire to be self-supporting.
Participation in simple labor, support for wishes including lease deposit by accumulating private donation.
Supporters: Gwancheol-dong/Gwansu-dong Cooperative, LEEMA INDUSTRIAL Co., Ltd. Useong Society
Recipients: 7 (6 for street cleaning, one for caring for socially disadvantaged residents, twice a week)
Subsidy: 1.4 million KRW per month (200,000 KRW per month per person, instal
Question 2
The initiative should improve people’s lives, notably by enhancing the contribution of public services to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the realization of the SDGs
a. Please explain how the initiative improves the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
① Residence: Support for home repair, preparation of short-term stay facility for short-term moves in the case of urgent home repairs, public bath, maintenance of alleys, etc.
② Health: Regular health examination, visiting care service, companion service to talk with for senior citizens living alone
③ Intermediate-level support: Enhancing the activity of ‘Love Shelter’ as a kind of intermediate-level support group, link to custom welfare service.
④ Education: Operation of Happy Village School, permanent operation of learning and clubs in the village, strengthening the community activities.
Question 3
The initiative must impact positively a group or groups of the population (i.e. children, women, elderly, people with disability, etc) and address a significant issue of public service delivery within the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain how the initiative has addressed a significant issue related to the delivery of public services (200 words maximum)
① Distrust of Sliver Room residents toward government administration
The public administration policies for Sliver Room residents were one-time projects in most cases or just the delivery of relief goods. There were a number of difficulties in creating rapport because of the lack of expectation and trust of residents toward administration. Resident participation and reaction were very low.
→ The significant part of the project period was devoted to help residents slowly open their minds through relationship-building and communication with residents (over 70 meetings for 2 years). Projects that could fulfill the insufficiency of residents in daily life and have top priority for the life of Sliver Room residents were discovered and implemented.
② Resistance by building owners and neighboring shops and residents
The owners of buildings comprising Sliver Rooms strongly resisted the urban renovation project.
Neighboring shops and residents requested the demolition of the area, thinking that the Sliver Rooms with alcoholics or the socially disadvantaged residents who mostly live as densely populated homeless were unpleasant.
→ Persuading building owners and neighboring shops and residents to understand the project and inducing them to recognize that the Sliver Rooms residents are also members of the community living in harmony
b. Please explain how the initiative has impacted positively a group or groups of the population within the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
① Positive change for Sliver Rooms residents
A village transformed to an affectionate village where everyone shares with and cares about each other through community activities as isolated residents of sliver rooms come out of their space: Substantial reduction of crime rate and improvement of mental health.
In accordance with a survey by the Crime Prevention and Analysis Team of Jongno Police Station, burglaries were reduced by 25%, drinking and violence cases by 20% and sex offenses by 100% through the Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project. This change is astonishing.
The referral rate to Mental Health and Welfare centers was increased to twice that of the previous year. The community maintenance rate was 96% (94.6% for other general areas). The non-drinking period for participants of the alcoholism treatment program increased from 10 days to 19.7 days. The ADIT_K (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test_Korea) was reduced by 1.3 points.
② The significant changes from the Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project draw attention
to integrated improvement per field by supporting the socially disadvantaged class in each community.
④ Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project provided the opportunity for residents who spent every day without hope or depended only on government support.
Question 4
The initiative must present an innovative idea, a distinctively new approach, or a unique policy or approach implemented in order to realize the SDGs in the context of a given country or region.
a. Please explain in which way the initiative is innovative in the context of your country or region (200 words maximum)
① The Donui-dong Sliver Rooms is an area where residents of the socially disadvantaged class, the status one step up before homelessness, live in a group. These areas gradually become a slum area and then a crime-ridden area. Frequently the issue is solved by completely tearing the area down or forcibly closing it. However, under a vision that the living space of these residents is a ‘hope nest’, the area has been developed using the approach of renovating the city.
② Without concentrating only on a change of the physical environment, integrated urban renovation has been realized through community activity including the residence, daily life and welfare in consideration of the equality of the residents who live there.
③ The Donui-dong Sliver Rooms area requires social care, but has been pushed away in
national policy. However, this project is highly significant because it was implemented by connecting an extensive policy to this socially neglected area through cooperation between public organizations and the private sector for the first time.
④ Even the area of the ‘Sliver Rooms’ has become a village where residents can independently support themselves and help others through interaction through the awareness.
Question 4b
b. Please describe if the innovation is original or if it is an adaptation from other contexts (If it is known)? (200 words maximum)
1. The Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project is similar to the urban restoration policy of Korea, preparation of public infrastructure through the participation of residents as a village buildup project, and activation of the community in terms of the project implementation approach.
2. However, the Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project is differentiated as the first attempt in a sliver area with a dense population of vulnerable citizens.
In particular, the policy integrating activities to enhance the desire for self-support of the vulnerable, protect their mental health, and customized welfare are the unique features of the Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project.
Question 4c
c. What resources (i.e. financial, human , material or other resources, etc) were used to implement the initiative? (200 words maximum)
Jongno-gu Office had worries about the financial costs for resolving the Sliver Rooms issue in Donui-dong. In 2015, Jongno-gu applied for a living environment renovation project for vulnerable areas in a city organized by the central government (Presidential Committee on Regional Development). Donui-dong was selected as the only winner in Seoul. Jongno-gu secured the project cost of 5.2 billion KRW including funding from the central government.
Financial resources Public budget (5.2 Billion KRW) + Link of social contribution projects of enterprises (110 Million KRW)
Human Resources
Implementation of public and private governance (including residents, administrators, experts, police stations and fire stations)
Professors, village activists, NOGs, volunteers, village architects
Donui-dong Love Shelter, Mental Health Welfare Center
3 merchant associations, homeowners club (103 Development Council)
Tenants club (103 Volunteering Club), College of Nursing, Seoul National University
Physical resources: Supply of unused space in churches, support for home repair by HABITAT and construction-related enterprises, kimchi sharing by hospitals.
Question 5
The initiative should be adaptable to other contexts (e.g. other cities, countries or regions). There may already be evidence that it has inspired similar innovations in other public-sector institutions within a given country, region or at the global level.
a. Has the initiative been transferred to other contexts?
Yes
The Donui-dong Saetteul Village Project has been benchmarked as a good case for areas where the low-income class is densely populated in Korea and for four other sliver areas in Seoul. The short-term stay facility for short-term moves in the case of urgent home repairs has been suggested as an alternative for the limit and problems in public policies on rental housing.
Question 6
The initiative should be able to be sustained over a significant period of time.
a. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable (covering the social, economic and environmental aspects) (300 words maximum)
The Donui-dong (Sliver Rooms) of the Saetteul Village Project, considering social equity, can be realized only by the will of the local administrator through distributing financial resources as a public project with top priority. In particular, the community activity program for the socially disadvantaged residents implemented in Donui-dong Saetteul Village is sustainable when it is institutionalized and regularized as a public service.
The Donui-dong (Sliver Room) Saetteul Project is a different approach from other urban renovation project focusing on the hardware environment claiming sustainability.
The project is a customized software approach focusing on the target ‘Sliver Room’. It proposes guidelines for flexible approaches outside of strict regulations during the project period.
The examples include deregulation related to construction work for urban renovation, creation of jobs beyond the implementation of quantitative infrastructure and execution of customized human care program for the community during the project period.
When the Donui-dong (Sliver Room) Saetteul Project adding the experimental means is successfully completed, it will be a model for new public projects that consider social equity as well as enhance national interest and social reflection regarding the socially or economically vulnerable classes, which are pushed out of society due to the law of supply and demand.
Socially expanding magnanimity among members of a society.
Economically inducing an economic virtuous cycle by creating jobs in a community.
Sustainability by environmentally sharing resources and replacing lamps with LED
b. Please describe whether and how the initiative is sustainable in terms of durability in time (300 words maximum)
As shown in the project schedule per year in the table below, Jongno-gu has been implementing the Donui-dong Satteul Village Project as the major municipal policy every year and reflecting the public budget in accordance with legal standards by building up the infrastructure and enhancing the capability of residents for four years. Accordingly, this project is sustainable.
The sustainability of the project is secured by making the intermediate-level organization in Donui-dong village a public organization (municipal organization).
- Year 2015-2016
Implementation of cooperation system among participants and establishment of a master plan
Establishment of Saetteul Village Master Plan
Operation of general coordination and village activists
Briefing for/meeting with Sliver Rooms residents, capability enhancement training.
Purchase and design of site for community facilities, etc
- Year 2017
Improvement of physical environment and activation of community
Organization and operation of T/F team
Construction of community facilities and workshop
Improvement of community living environment (support for home repair)
Public programs with residents and the expansion of employment
Implementation of capability enhancement training for Sliver Room residents, etc
-Year 2018
Implementation of cooperative governance and activation of urban renovation
Operation of community facilities and workshop
Improvement of the alley environment and formation of safe alleys
Organization of community council
Expansion of community projects
Monitoring and project assessment
Continuing exploration of relevant projects, etc.
Question 7
The initiative should have gone through a formal evaluation, showing some evidence of impact on improving people’s lives.
a. Has the initiative been formally evaluated?
Yes
If yes, please describe how the initiative was evaluated? (200 words maximum)
In accordance with the Annual Evaluation Guideline of Central Government of the Saetteul Village Project, the total score is 100. Each category is evaluated (evaluation score shall not exceed 85 points). The scoring standard is differentiated by implementation stage.
• Project Implementation Stage (3rd Year): Planning (20%), implementation (60%), achievement (10%), follow-up management (10%).
After an internal evaluation, the independent experts evaluate the project in the higher-level organization as the second evaluation. The scores in the internal evaluation and the second evaluation are totaled.
b. Please describe the outcome of the evaluation of the impact of the initiative (200 words maximum)
① Best Prize in the Saetteul Village Project Evaluation in 2016 and 2017.
② Achievement in other evaluations
Presentation of the case in the 2016 ICLEI Metropolitan Solution (Germany)
Best Prize in the 2017 Good Manifesto Case Competition of Local Administrators
Best Prize in 2017 Korea Healthy City Award
c. Please describe the indicators that were used (200 words maximum)
Evaluation Items (Ratio %) : Planning (20%)
- Organization for project implementation & cooperation
- Participation of residents and local communities
- Feasibility of the project
Evaluation Items (Ratio %) : Implementation (60%)
- Adequacy of implementation system
- Participation of residents and local communities
- Progress of promotion/implementation
- Efficiency in the implementation process
Evaluation Items (Ratio %) : Achievement (10%)
- Ripple effect of the project
Evaluation Items (Ratio %) : Follow-up Management (10%)
- Adequacy of follow-up management on newly created spaces
- Expectation on continuing effort for improving the village
Question 8
The initiative must demonstrate that it has engaged various actors such as from other institutions, civil society, or the private sector, when possible.
a. The 2030 Development Agenda puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, coordination, partnerships, and inclusion. Please describe what stakeholders were engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative. Please also highlight their roles and contributions (300 words maximum)
① Public Sector:
Jongno-gu Office Saetteul Village T/F (26 teams in 17 divisions)
Seoul Metropolitan Government, Government Organizations (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Presidential Committee on Regional Development)
Jongno Police Station, Jongno Fire Station
② Residents: Homeowners Club (103 Development Council), Tenants Club (103 Volunteering Club)
③ Schools: College of Nursing, Seoul National University
④ NGO:
Donui-dong Love Shelter, Mental Health Welfare Center.
Jongno-gu Volunteers Association, Jongno-gu Happy Dream Ikkeumi
Gwancheol-dong/Gwansu-dong Cooperative, Cooperative, Useong Society
→ Participation of residents: Cooperation, communication and partnership through survey on social desire, questionnaire, presentation and briefing (over 70 meetings for 2 years).
Design and implementation of the project with sufficient time for opening the minds of residents.
Identification and implementation of general projects that are the top priority for, but not sufficiently provided to, the residents in the sliver rooms.
Persuading building owners and neighboring shops and residents to understand the project and inducing them to recognize that the Sliver Rooms residents are also members of the harmonious community: Continuing meetings with building owners once a month.
Question 9
a. Please describe the key lessons learned, and any view you have on how to further improve the initiative (200 words maximum)
The most important thing in public administration is to secure the right to pursue happiness for everyone without discrimination. It is significant that the policy on the Sliver Rooms was extensively implemented while the Sliver Rooms themselves were neglected in the local development policy.
The project contributes to providing a minimum livable space for Sliver Room residents by expanding the infrastructure for improving the basic living environment and endeavoring to improve the quality of life through community restoration.
The project helped to enhance the self-respect of residents living day by day without hope and helped them to feel the meaning of living in harmony with neighbors.
The custom support system was implemented through covering medicine, livelihood, jobs, legal affairs, residence and health, which were highly demanded in accordance with a general desire survey of the residents, and education and resources were connected in the public service field.