Guro-gu Ranks First in European Council's 'Intercultural Cities' Indicator Evaluation

Among intercultural cities with populations of 200,000 to 500,000 and 10-15% foreign residents, highest score... Evenly good evaluations in all 90 categories... Perfect scores in 7 fields

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) ranked first in the indicator evaluation conducted by the Council of Europe, which assesses and certifies ‘Intercultural Cities.’

Following its designation as the first Intercultural City among Seoul’s autonomous districts last August, Guro-gu was also recognized as the top city in the indicator evaluation results.

The Intercultural City evaluation indicators consist of 90 questions across 17 categories, including intercultural intelligence and competence, language support, media and publicity, education, anti-discrimination, participation, interaction, and commitments.

Guro-gu received an average score of 87 points on the evaluation indicators, achieving the highest score among intercultural cities with populations between 200,000 and 500,000 and foreign resident populations between 10% and 15%.

The district earned consistently high marks across all categories, achieving perfect scores in seven areas: residential areas, business and labor market, cultural and social life, media and publicity, leadership and citizenship, anti-discrimination, and interaction.

To foster an intercultural city, Guro-gu has implemented policies such as urban regeneration, operation of a foreigner autonomous crime prevention squad, publication of a multicultural newsletter, formation of a support council for foreign residents and multicultural families, establishment of the public-private-academic cooperation system called Daga-chi Danuri Governance, construction of a multicultural family support center, and operation of a multicultural supporters group.

In 2018, Guro-gu became the first autonomous district in Seoul to establish a dedicated department for foreigners and multicultural families, and served as the chair city of the National Multicultural City Council for four years (2016?2020).

As a result of these efforts, Guro-gu received the Excellence Award from the Minister of the Interior and Safety in the 2019 Multicultural Policy Awards and the Grand Prize from the Minister of Gender Equality and Family in the 2020 Multicultural Policy Awards.

Ivana, a representative of the Council of Europe, congratulated Guro-gu, stating, “It is rare for a newly designated Intercultural City to receive such a high score. The high-quality policies, innovative approaches, and outstanding ideas have led to excellent results.”

‘Intercultural City’ refers to a city where residents of diverse cultures and nationalities achieve social integration based on communication and cooperation. This city design and operation program was launched in 2008 by the Council of Europe and the European Union, and currently, 141 cities worldwide participate.

District Office Entrance Signboard

A Guro-gu official said, “Through this indicator evaluation, we confirmed the excellence of Guro-gu’s intercultural policies. We will continue to engage and cooperate with other Intercultural City members to present a successful intercultural city model and strive to practice the ideals of interculturalism.”

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