Gyeonggi Province Secures 22.7 Billion Won in National Funding for Urban Vitality Enhancement Projects

Urban vitality enhancement development projects in Gyeonggi Province are expected to gain momentum.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 12th that it has secured 22.7 billion won in national funding for the 2015 Urban Vitality Enhancement Area Development Projects. This represents an increase of 2.1 billion won from the 20.6 billion won in national funding secured for 2014 projects last year.

The Urban Vitality Enhancement Area Development Project is an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport designed to encourage independent development of local governments through residential area regeneration, downtown revitalization, expansion of basic living infrastructure, and strengthening of regional capacity.

The 2015 urban vitality projects to be pursued in the province will be implemented in 34 sites across 12 cities and municipalities, with 13 of these newly designated this round.

In particular, among the 13 newly designated projects, 5 projects were selected through the "Customized Maintenance Projects," a downtown regeneration initiative promoted by the province.

The five customized maintenance projects newly designated as 2015 urban vitality projects are: ▲Seongnam City's "Happiness Up(UP) Vitality Up(UP) Dan(DAN/丹)" ▲Namyangju City's "Thriving Gungjang Village Urban Regeneration Project" ▲Suwon City's "Maesandong Suwon-style Urban Renaissance" ▲Osan City's "Creating a Thematic Oemoe Marketplace" ▲Siheung City's "Doil, the Tale of Its Restoration."

Two continuing projects—Siheung City's "Regeneration, Breathing Vitality into the City (Eunhaeng District)" and Uiwang City's "Creating a Better Community: Geumcheon Village"—have confirmed national funding support.

The "Gyeonggi Province Customized Maintenance Project" is a resident-led old downtown regeneration initiative launched by the province in 2013 as the nation's first of its kind, regenerating deteriorating old downtown areas such as redevelopment promotion district release areas and densely populated single and multi-family residential zones by preserving and reflecting local characteristics.

Kim Tae-jeong, head of the Regional Policy Division at Gyeonggi Province, analyzed that "the Gyeonggi Province Customized Maintenance Project, a resident-led old downtown maintenance initiative, aligns with the purpose of promoting urban vitality projects that encourage independent development of local governments, which enabled us to secure additional national funding," and stated, "We will continue to make every effort to promote maintenance projects that can breathe vitality into old downtown areas."