○ Gyeonggi Province announced the results of participating village recruitment for the “2020 Residential Environment Improvement Project Using Unoccupied Houses in Border Areas.”
○ Village located at 262 beonji, Oga-ri, Changsu-myeon was selected for the project and will be reborn as “Eco and Peace Tourism Village.”
– Abandoned factories and unoccupied houses will be transformed into local community food production and sales facilities and tourist platforms.
– A community experiential farm will be also created to provide Gyeonggi-Seoul-Incheon residents with various activity options in connection with the nearby Hantangang River ecological and geological tourist areas.
○ Gyeonggi Province will seek on-site consultations with experts and run resident capacity improvement programs to ensure project sustainability.
– The project is expected to create more jobs for locals, including Hantangang River tour guides and local culture commentators, while also increasing local income.

Oga-ri Village in Changsu-myeon, Pocheon City, was selected as the participating village in Gyeonggi Province’s “2020 Residential Environment Improvement Project Using Unoccupied Houses in Border Areas”.

According to the province’s announcement on March 19, the project is geared to vitalize villages in border areas that have seen population outflows due to sluggish development stemming from designation as military facility protection areas and also affected by double development regulations as such villages are part of the capital region.

The project aims to improve the overall residential environment of these villages by using unoccupied houses, constructing income-generating facilities and convenience facilities, remodeling old buildings, and creating landscapes.

This past January, Gyeonggi Province received applications from 7 border cities and counties for project participation. It selected Oga-ri Village in Pocheon City after that community received the highest scores in an evaluation process that consisted of document reviews, field surveys and presentation assessments conducted by the selection committee.

Pocheon City will transform the village into an “Eco and Peace Tourism Village” in which residents and tourists can coexist through exchanges on a site of approximately 190,000 square meters located at 262 beonji, Oga-ri, Changsu-myeon, developing tourist attractions and activities related to the natural and cultural resources of this area.

A total of KRW 3 billion, KRW 1.5 billion each from the province and city, will be invested in the project.

Specifically, abandoned brick factories, unoccupied houses and unused lots in the village will be transformed into local community food production and sales facilities, guest houses, “sixth-industry-based” community experiential farms, tourist information centers, cafes, performance halls, and more.

In addition, the “Hantan River Traveler Platform” will be created to provide tourists who visit the village and the nearby Hantangang River ecological and geological tourist areas (renowned for columnar joints) with tourist information, accommodations, and experiential programs.

Gyeonggi Province plans to increase project professionalism through on-site consultations with experts in the fields of urban regeneration and space utilization. It will establish community businesses and run resident capacity improvement programs to ensure the sustainability of the project and enable residents to manage and operate the newly created facilities.

“This project is part of the village regeneration and community vitalization initiatives undertaken in line with the philosophy of the provincial assembly. With this project, we will expand our support for underdeveloped and marginalized villages, returning their vitality,” said Balanced Development Planning Assistant Governor Jeong Sang-gyun.

Gyeonggi Province selected Baegui 2-ri in Yeoncheon in 2018 and Bongam-ri in Yangju in 2019 for project participation, improving their residential environments through the utilization of unoccupied houses.