Paju City received an institutional commendation from the Minister of Public Administration and Security at the ‘2024 Bicycle Use Revitalization Award’ hosted by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security has been evaluating the performance of local governments, civic groups, educational institutions, and individuals and awarding best practices that have attracted public interest and participation in promoting bicycle use. The evaluation criteria include ▲expansion of facilities for bicycle use, ▲establishment of a culture of bicycle use, ▲interest of institution heads, and ▲excellent cases.
Paju City was recognized for its introduction of a shared bicycle operation system and the establishment of the basic concept of a bicycle road centered on a river, and was selected as the 2024 Ministry of the Interior and Safety Minister’s Award for promoting bicycle use. This is the second award following the selection as ‘Best organization for promoting bicycle use in Gyeonggi-do’.
Paju City is in the process of establishing a ‘bicycle use activation plan’, a statutory plan, and based on this, efforts will be made to expand bicycle use facilities and create nature-friendly specialized bicycle paths centered on rivers to establish the city as a sustainable means of transportation. plan.
In addition, the plan is to establish a system in 2025 to more efficiently manage abandoned bicycles, which harm the aesthetics of the city and disrupt the pedestrian environment for citizens.
Paju Mayor Kim Gyeong-il said, “Winning this Minister’s Award for Promoting Bicycle Use is an achievement created by citizens and the administration together,” and added, “We will continue to make efforts to ensure that citizens can use bicycles more safely and conveniently.”
Meanwhile, Paju City has prepared the “Paju City Urban Planning Change Pre-Negotiation Operation Guidelines,” which contains standards for public contribution to development profits arising from urban planning changes.
Pre-negotiation on urban planning changes is a system in which the private sector discusses the feasibility of urban planning changes and public contributions according to the scale of development with local governments in advance before promoting urban planning changes.
The city laid the institutional foundation for the ‘Paju City Urban Plan Change Pre-Negotiation Operation Guidelines’ by applying the infrastructure donation and payment operation standards in the ‘District Unit Plan Establishment Guidelines’. In particular, the public contribution amount was set at a lower level compared to other local governments to reduce the burden on the private sector, and balanced development between regions was achieved by establishing regions through status analysis.
The target of application is the decision (change) of an urban management plan proposed by the private sector pursuant to Article 26 of the National Land Planning Act, where regulations are relaxed, and the guidelines include urban management such as ‘standards for application of public contribution’ and ‘procedure for promoting prior negotiation system’. It contains details necessary for prior negotiations due to change in plan.
For efficient and transparent negotiations, the city plans to form a negotiation organization such as a negotiation team and a negotiation and mediation council, and determine the appropriate amount and method of public contribution through negotiation, mediation, and consultation.
It is expected that this prior negotiation system will increase the public interest of private development projects and benefit citizens through the return of profits generated from the projects.
Park Ji-young, head of the city planning department, said, “We plan to encourage private development through flexible urban planning using a prior negotiation system, and use an appropriate amount of development profits returned as public contributions for balanced regional development.”
Economy Queen Reporter Kim Hong-mi / Photo Paju City
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