In Seoul, an hour of help given is an hour of help banked

In Seodaemun District, in western Seoul, helping a neighbour is about to become a currency. The district is preparing a 'time bank': every hour a resident spends assisting someone — teaching a senior to use a smartphone, running an errand, tutoring a student — earns one hour of time credit, redeemable later for help of their own. Unlike traditional volunteering, there is no fixed line between givers and receivers; anyone can offer a skill and anyone can ask. Seodaemun is the first municipality in South Korea to build the model directly into district administration, signing a partnership with the nonprofit TimeBank Korea and running an eight-week training programme through December 1 to prepare community coordinators. A pilot of 30 trained residents will test the system in 2027, expanding across the district from 2028 toward a fully established system by 2030. 'Volunteering is not just about helping someone in need,' says district chief Park Woon-ki. 'It is about building relationships where neighbours can lean on one another during hard times.'

SDG 11 · Sustainable cities and communities — Mechanism: institutional program