Yangcheon-gu Super-Aged Society Response Manifesto Contest Excellence Award Winner

Highly Praised: Seoul's First Incentive Program for Senior Drivers Returning Licenses and Smart Care Policies

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) won the "Excellence Award in the Super-Aged Response Category" at the 2020 National Basic Local Government Heads Manifesto Best Practice Competition hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.

The competition featured a total of 353 cases from 144 cities, counties, and districts nationwide across seven categories including jobs, income gap resolution, super-aging response, and climate environment. Through the first document screening and the second online video presentation screening, Yangcheon-gu's case "The Story of an Age-Friendly City" received excellent evaluation in the super-aging response category.

With the start of the 7th elected term, Yangcheon-gu established a three-year action plan, selecting 138 projects across eight areas to respond to the super-aged society.

Additionally, by discovering age-friendly policy agendas through policy forums and creating a policy foundation for the elderly, Yangcheon-gu was certified as a member of the WHO Age-Friendly Cities International Network in 2018.

They built the West Seoul Senior Welfare Center and created a barrier-free deck forest trail, establishing optimal infrastructure for healthy aging. They also pioneered an incentive program that provides transportation cards to elderly drivers who surrender their licenses, the first such initiative in Seoul.

Furthermore, they implemented a traffic safety series for elderly drivers, including safety education and providing considerate driver signs, which received great response.

Moreover, they produced customized newsletters for seniors and established a dynamic communication channel for the elderly who might otherwise be isolated by selecting an honorary reporter group led by seniors themselves. They also did not miss creating 517 customized job creation projects based on local characteristics, including the Yangcheon Senior Club.

Especially in the situation where care gaps were a concern due to COVID-19, they promoted various projects to strengthen digital capabilities so that seniors can enjoy a vibrant old age in the post-COVID era. These include distributing smart plugs and AI speakers for elderly living alone, kiosk programs, online longevity culture university smartphone usage education, and introducing the robot "Riku" that teaches how to use smart devices up close.

Yangcheon-gu's story of an age-friendly city was highly evaluated for quickly responding to rapidly changing environments such as COVID-19 and the 4th industrial revolution and for implementing customized policies for the elderly.

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, said, "This evaluation result was possible thanks to the active participation and cooperation of the residents," adding, "We will use this award as a stepping stone to promote policies that make Yangcheon healthier and happier for the elderly. Also, we will continue to carefully manage the district administration to fulfill the promises of the 7th elected term."

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