Busan is good

Citizen-Designed Public Safety Finds Answers through the “2025 Busan Autonomous Police Public Safety Living Lab”

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The Busan Autonomous Police Committee (Chair Kim Cheol-jun, hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) announced that it will hold the final performance report meeting for the three on-site pilot project teams of the “2025 Busan Autonomous Police Public Safety Living Lab” at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow (December 17) in the Committee’s main conference room.

From February to March, the Committee conducted a Public Safety Living Lab idea contest and received a total of 22 proposals, significantly surpassing the 11 submissions in 2023 and 16 in 2024. This increase is attributed to the diversification of promotional channels, including district and county community meetings, which successfully encouraged broader citizen participation.

Five teams selected through the contest underwent expert evaluation at a mid-term performance report meeting in July, after which three teams were ultimately chosen as final on-site pilot projects. These three initiatives will be carried out through the end of December, and they are expected to bring perceptible improvements to citizens’ daily environments, such as pedestrian areas around traditional markets.

This year’s three on-site pilot research projects consist of the Safe Zone Creation Project around traditional markets, the installation of bench-style village bus stop signposts, and the design and installation of dedicated cigarette-butt disposal bins. All three initiatives are closely aligned with everyday, people-centered public safety policies.

Through this final performance report meeting, the Committee plans to share the outcomes in which citizen-proposed ideas to address everyday public safety challenges have translated into real-world changes. Following further evaluation, ideas proven to be highly effective will be reviewed for potential linkage to public safety policies in consultation with relevant agencies and the police.

In addition, the meeting will include an awards ceremony to recognize the contributions of citizens and experts who supported the implementation of the Public Safety Living Lab pilot projects throughout the year. The Chair of the Busan Autonomous Police Committee plans to select a total of six recipients—including facilitators, designers, and citizen participants—with four individuals receiving commendations and two receiving certificates of appreciation.

The Committee expects that this ceremony will serve as an official expression of appreciation for the collective efforts of citizens and experts, from project planning through on-site implementation, and that these awards will further encourage citizen participation and engagement in the Public Safety Living Lab going forward.

Meanwhile, during the implementation of the pilot projects, the Committee has worked closely with the police, district offices, and village bus transport associations to address regulatory constraints and complex administrative procedures one by one, thereby laying the groundwork for citizen ideas to be realized as actual policies.

For the Safe Zone Creation Project around traditional markets, the Committee held multiple consultations with relevant agencies, including district offices and the police, to ensure that the specifications and design of facilities—such as ground guidance signage and gobo lighting—met applicable standards. The bench-style village bus stop signpost project was also made possible through regulatory adjustments and cooperation with village bus transport associations.

Chair Kim Cheol-jun stated, “The Public Safety Living Lab is a core platform of Busan’s autonomous policing that creates safety citizens can truly feel in their daily lives, representing a new public safety paradigm grounded in citizen participation and on-site experimentation.” He added, “We will continue to identify and expand pilot projects involving citizens, police, and experts, advance a Busan-style public safety model, and disseminate it nationwide, while providing sustained policy and institutional support so that all citizens can feel that Busan has become a safer city.”