What Is the Secret Behind Eunpyeong-gu Winning the 'Korea Healthy City Award'?

'Happy Walking in Eunpyeong' Policy... Creating Bulgwangcheon with Flowing Music... Building a Dense COVID-19 Response System through Collaboration to Protect 'Resident Health'... Formation of Healthy City Promotion Team... Establishment of Healthy City Team and Collaboration with Multiple Departments

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) has been re-recognized as a healthy city by winning the grand prize in the joint policy category at the 2020 Korea Healthy City Awards contest for creating ‘Happy Walking Eunpyeong’.

The ‘Korea Healthy City Awards’ is the most prestigious healthy city contest in Korea, targeting member cities of metropolitan and basic local governments affiliated with the Korea Healthy Cities Association, discovering and selecting excellent healthy city cases.

According to the World Health Organization, a healthy city is a city that continuously strives to improve citizens’ health and quality of life through creative and sustainable development of the city’s physical, social, and environmental conditions, maximizing individual potential, and fostering mutual cooperation among community participants.

In fact, Eunpyeong has been actively promoting interdepartmental collaborative projects under the motto ‘Happy Walking Eunpyeong,’ making physical environmental improvements to encourage walking.

Additionally, it has built a meticulous infectious disease response system to cope with the resurgence of COVID-19 cases and attempted a shift to non-face-to-face administration using online platforms, thereby establishing a robust healthy city.

Since February, Eunpyeong has converted the know-how accumulated from COVID-19 quarantine efforts into an immediate readiness posture to protect residents’ health. The ‘Eunpyeong-type specimen collection room’ was created, introducing a Glove-Wall system that separates patients and medical staff during specimen collection to minimize infection risk.

This has led to reduced fatigue among medical staff, improving services for residents and enabling a mass testing system.

As COVID-19 cases increased, the prompt ‘immediate response’ measures also drew attention. When a confirmed case occurs, a swift epidemiological investigation is conducted to thoroughly manage movement paths. If there is a possibility of a cluster outbreak, a temporary screening clinic is set up on-site, and comprehensive testing is carried out.

Following the rapid response, healthier policies adapting to lifestyle changes were promoted. For children staying indoors all day due to online schooling, the ‘PangPang! Home Playground’ was opened, providing ‘Parenting Stress TIPs’ to help caregivers manage childcare stress and strengthening safe non-face-to-face care support programs against infection.

Moreover, Eunpyeong Library’s ‘Baby Welcome’ program curates prenatal fairy tales and delivers them by courier to pregnant women. Various non-face-to-face programs are also operated at public libraries in Eunpyeong-gu, which are temporarily closed.

A ‘Body Temperature 1 Day 1 Check (Check)! Campaign’ is underway, distributing thermometers sequentially to 210,000 households in Eunpyeong-gu, encouraging residents to measure their temperature and upload certification photos or videos on SNS.

Psychological stabilization supplies and phone numbers for psychological counseling are provided to the rapidly increasing number of self-quarantined individuals. For general residents, non-face-to-face counseling is available through the Eunpyeong-gu Office and Eunpyeong Public Health Center websites, focusing on psychological quarantine as well.

Eunpyeong is also proactive in improving the local environment for health. Five courses of the Eunpyeong Dullegil trail have been developed, improving walkways centered on walking-vulnerable groups and creating barrier-free paths to promote walking. Additionally, various contents such as resident-led walking clubs, customized walking programs by target group, and the music-filled Bulgwangcheon Stream are provided to encourage walking culture.

To establish a stronger healthy city status, Eunpyeong formed a Healthy City Promotion Team. Centered on the Health and Hygiene Division as the general department, a Healthy City Team was newly established to operate collaborative projects with multiple departments. Collaborations with the Health Promotion Division and Eunpyeong Sports Council include operating Walking Day on November 11; with the Culture and Tourism Division and Housing Regeneration Division, creating healthy stairs in living areas and conducting senior health education; and with the Parks and Greenery Division, providing free health checkups for those who complete the Eunpyeong Dullegil trail.

Mayor Kim Mi-kyung of Eunpyeong-gu stated, “Walking in the city is a useful means to energize the city. Recently, with sports facilities closed, walking in the quiet areas of the Eunpyeong Dullegil trail can help compensate for the lack of exercise,” and added, “Taking this grand prize at the Korea Healthy City Awards as an opportunity, we will further complete a meticulous infectious disease response system and strive to make Eunpyeong a healthy city.”

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