Yeongdeungpo-gu Wins Best Award Two Years in a Row at Manifesto Competition

Honored in the 'Local Culture Revitalization' Field with 'Yeongdeungpo, a Cultural City of Communication and Cooperation for Mutual Growth'...Nation's First Emergency Support for Local Culture and Arts, Yeongdeungpo Market Station Cultural Arts Railroad Pilot Station Achievements

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has achieved the great feat of winning the Grand Prize for two consecutive years at the ‘National Basic Local Government Heads Manifesto Best Practice Competition’ hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.

In this 11th competition held this year, under the slogan ‘Innovative Dialogue for Future Society,’ the implementation cases of local government pledges nationwide were evaluated in seven categories including ▲job creation and employment improvement ▲income gap resolution ▲regional culture revitalization ▲newsletters and broadcasting.

Out of 353 cases submitted by 144 local governments nationwide, 172 were selected in the first round. Due to COVID-19, the second final round was conducted through non-face-to-face online evaluation, reviewing videos presenting the pledge implementation cases submitted by each local government.

Last year, the district was the only autonomous district nationwide to achieve two Grand Prizes in the ‘Citizen Participation and Village Autonomy’ and ‘Newsletter and Broadcasting’ categories at the ‘2019 Manifesto Best Practice Competition.’ Not stopping there, this year it presented a pledge implementation case under the theme ‘Yeongdeungpo, a Cultural City for All Coexisting through Communication and Cooperation’ in the ‘Regional Culture Revitalization’ competition category, winning the Grand Prize.

Since the 7th local government term, the district has aimed to create ‘Yeongdeungpo, a cultural city that respects regional culture and is based on cooperation,’ recruiting a cultural expert as the CEO of the Yeongdeungpo Cultural Foundation and attempting new changes while also strengthening communication with local artists. As a result, it won the Grand Prize in the ‘Regional Culture Revitalization’ category this year.

The district, together with the Cultural Foundation, is conducting various cultural projects such as the ‘Governance25 Citizen Planning Group,’ directly planned by residents by discovering multiple cultural entities operating in a segmented manner in the region, and the Art Bank connecting artists and residents.

Additionally, to enable residents to enjoy culture in daily life, the district plans to expand cultural spaces for residents throughout Yeongdeungpo, including 18 community service centers and Yeongdeungpo Market Station, which opened as a pilot station for cultural and artistic railroads on July 31.

In particular, based on close communication with local cultural artists struggling due to COVID-19, the district took proactive measures and played a pivotal role in this award by being the first in the nation to implement an emergency support policy for local cultural arts related to COVID-19, serving as a catalyst spreading to other local governments.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “This award is the result of practicing ‘communication and cooperation,’ the core values of the 7th local government administration, together with the Cultural Foundation and local artists,” adding, “We will continue to elevate the status of Yeongdeungpo as a cultural city through steady communication with local artists.”

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