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“Transforming Children’s School Commutes Together with Citizens” Busan Metropolitan City Shares Outcomes of School Route Pilot Project

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that it will share the progress and achievements of the “citizen-participatory school route development project” at the “15-Minute City Safe School Route Public-Private Consultative Group Meeting” (hereinafter referred to as the meeting), to be held today (30th) at 10:30 a.m. in Conference Room 1 on the 12th floor of City Hall.

The meeting has been organized to review the overall progress of the project since the kickoff meeting and the launch ceremony for safety guardians, and to discuss directions for expanding citizen participation in policy implementation.

Attendees will include Vice Mayor for Future Innovation Seong Heui-yeob, the Director General of the Future Space Strategy Bureau, as well as representatives from relevant institutions such as the police and the education office. Private-sector participants will include transportation and education experts, parent representatives, and civic group representatives.

At the meeting, key outcomes will be shared, including progress to date, the status of the safe school route development project around schools, and reviews of major opinions presented at the first meeting (December 26, 2025).

In particular, the city will report on the progress of projects at Busan Dong Girls’ High School and Namcheon Elementary School, which have been selected as pilot sites for pedestrian-only walkways. Follow-up procedures such as resident surveys, traffic safety reviews, and detailed design planning will continue to be carried out promptly.

In addition, the city plans to develop a Busan-specific model through joint efforts between the public and private sectors, including addressing disconnected school routes and installing drop-off zones for children. Three additional pilot sites will also be selected.

Furthermore, the city will actively promote the development of citizen-participatory school routes through the “integrated design development for safe school routes” and the “citizen contest for naming safe school routes” to expand public awareness.

To apply a distinctive design unique to safe school routes and reorganize school route spaces based on analyses of pedestrian environments and risk factors, the city launched the “Integrated Design Development Service for Safe School Routes” on April 27.

In addition, the “citizen contest for naming safe school routes” is being conducted to expand public awareness and consensus. The contest, held from March 25 to April 5, attracted widespread participation with a variety of ideas (2,076 submissions). The final review will be conducted at today’s meeting, and the results will be used to enhance public engagement with school route policies.

Meanwhile, the city plans to continue strengthening cooperation among related institutions and expanding community participation centered on the public-private consultative group, ensuring that the project leads to meaningful changes that citizens can experience.

The city also intends to increase public awareness of the policy through promotion reflecting the naming contest results and to continuously expand the creation of safe pedestrian environments in connection with the “15-Minute City” initiative.

Seong Heui-yeob, Vice Mayor for Future Innovation of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “Safe school routes go beyond simple improvements to pedestrian environments and are a crucial policy directly linked to urban safety,” adding, “Through collaboration between the public and private sectors, we will create an environment where future generations can walk safely and with peace of mind.”