The Tenth Municipal Innovation Recommendation: "Realizing a Sustainable Gwangju Where Every Birth Is Respected" Announced

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Innovation Promotion Committee (Chairman Ju Jeong-min), directly under the Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Innovation Promotion Committee’), held its 15th plenary meeting on the 27th and finalized the 10th administrative innovation recommendation titled ‘Realizing a Sustainable Gwangju Where All Births Are Respected.’

This recommendation is the 16th since the Innovation Promotion Committee was launched as a mayoral advisory body on November 27, 2018, following previous recommendations on public institution innovation, revitalization of municipal art groups, smart manufacturing innovation, establishment of the Gwangju welfare model, data-driven administration, and redefinition of Gwangju urban management policies.

According to the Innovation Promotion Committee on the 28th, Gwangju’s population structure by age group shows that the population under 10 years old is about half that of the population in their 40s.

This is due to a continuous decline in the number of births and net population outflow since entering the ultra-low birthrate era in 2002. As of 2018, Gwangju’s total fertility rate was 0.972, lower than the national average of 0.977, indicating an urgent need for active low birthrate countermeasures.

Accordingly, the Innovation Promotion Committee recommended 29 innovation tasks under four basic directions aimed at strengthening public social responsibility as a low birthrate countermeasure to realize ‘a sustainable Gwangju where all births are respected’: ▲establishing and implementing mid- to long-term population policies ▲strengthening practical support by life cycle and target group ▲creating a detailed social care system to eliminate blind spots in existing systems ▲and spreading social consensus that can offer hope to future generations.

Additionally, at the meeting, it was proposed to form and operate a ‘(tentative name) Post-COVID-19 Economic and Social Countermeasures Committee’ by expanding and reorganizing the current COVID-19 Public-Private Joint Countermeasures Committee and Emergency Economic Countermeasures Meeting, to unite civic capabilities in seeking opportunities for change beyond overcoming the local community and economic shocks caused by COVID-19.

Going forward, the Innovation Promotion Committee will continuously monitor the implementation by having Gwangju City, which received the 10th administrative innovation recommendation, prepare and report detailed implementation plans within three months.

Next month, the committee plans to review the overall progress of the innovation tasks recommended and proposed so far and supplement any insufficient areas.

Chairman Ju Jeong-min stated, “To ensure the effectiveness of low birthrate countermeasures, above all, young people must have hope for the future. For this, various factors such as young people’s life stability, marriage, childbirth and childcare, and education must be considered,” adding, “Gwangju City must proactively establish an environment where having children and raising them without worries becomes a reality.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.