Suwon Special City Receives Top Prize at Gyeonggi Province Regulatory Innovation Excellence Award

[Suwon Ilbo=Jeong Jun-seong Reporter] Suwon Special City won the top prize at the '2025 Gyeonggi Province Regulatory Innovation Excellence Awards Competition' hosted by Gyeonggi Province on the 10th.

The city was selected for the top prize at the competition held at the Next-Generation Convergence Technology Research Institute by presenting 'User-Centered Parking Policy with 1 Hour Free Parking—Proven Effective.' The prize money is 20 million won.

The evaluation was conducted by combining the on-site judges' scores (90%) and public opinion survey results (10%) conducted from May 19-25. The evaluation criteria included creativity, difficulty level, effectiveness, scalability, and presentation completeness.

The city presented a case of implementing user-centered parking policies, providing citizens using public parking lots with the benefit of 1 hour free parking and introducing 'Saebit Parking Pass,' the nation's first integrated public parking lot pass, to resolve inconveniences faced by citizens using public parking facilities.

To reduce parking fee burdens and enable citizens to conveniently use public parking lots, the city has provided 1 hour free parking benefits to citizens parking at 46 public parking lots starting July 1 of last year. After the first hour, per-space rates of 10 minutes are applied depending on the parking lot.

Following the introduction of the 1 hour free parking benefit, the utilization rate of public parking lots in the second half of last year increased by 7% compared to the first half. Additionally, effects of revitalization were seen in traditional markets and back-alley commercial areas near public parking lots.

In January of this year, the city introduced 'Saebit Parking Pass,' an integrated pass usable at all 47 outdoor public parking lots operated by Suwon City Corporation. By amending ordinances to enable citizens to conveniently use outdoor public parking lots, the city created the nation's first integrated public parking lot pass.

A city official stated, "Through the introduction of 1 hour free parking and Saebit Parking Pass, public parking lot usage has increased and local commercial areas have also been revitalized," and added, "Going forward, we will actively innovate regulations that cause inconvenience to citizens."