Nowon-gu, Online Walking 'Resident Appreciation Festival' Held to Celebrate No.1 Walking Practice Rate

‘Walking City Nowon’ Declared: From Lowest Walking Practice Rate in Seoul to 1st Place in 2 Years... June’s Small Online Walking Challenge ‘Resident Appreciation Festival’ with Mobile Gift Card Draw

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will hold an online walking challenge called the ‘Citizen Appreciation Festival’ to celebrate achieving the highest walking practice rate in Seoul.

The walking practice rate refers to the percentage of people who walked for at least 30 minutes a day, five or more days a week, during the past week.

According to the 2020 Community Health Statistics released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency last May, while the average walking practice rate in Seoul dropped from 60.5% to 53.2% due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, Nowon-gu’s rate rose from 63.3% to 68.4%, showing the highest practice rate among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts.

The district expressed gratitude to the residents who actively participated in raising the walking practice rate and set the goal of the ‘Citizen Appreciation Festival’ challenge at 68,400 steps to commemorate the record high of 68.4% and encourage further efforts.

The challenge runs until the 27th, and this special event is open only to Nowon-gu residents (including those living, working, or studying in Nowon-gu).

Residents who wish to participate can install the ‘WalkOn’ app from Google Play or the App Store → sign up → join Nowon-gu’s official community ‘Walking City Nowon’ → and apply through the challenge tab (trophy icon) at the bottom.

This challenge accumulates up to 15,000 steps per day, and among those who achieve the goal, 600 people will be selected by lottery to receive mobile cultural gift certificates.

Additionally, a surprise event will be held where participants who take certification photos at photo zones located along major walking trails such as Danghyeoncheon Stream, Yeongchuksan Mountain, and Buran Mountain Healing Town and upload them on the WalkOn bulletin board will receive sports equipment.

Meanwhile, the district officially launched ‘Walking City Nowon’ in 2018 and began actively promoting walking culture. Through enacting ordinances to promote physical activity, supporting resident clubs for spreading walking culture, and conducting various walking campaigns, the practice rate, which was the lowest in Seoul at 47.7% in 2017, has sharply increased.

In particular, river maintenance projects on Jungnangcheon and Danghyeoncheon Streams and the creation of circular walking trails on Bulamsan and Yeongchuksan Mountains appear to have played a significant role in building a walking-friendly environment that residents can enjoy.

The district is currently undertaking renovation projects for hiking trails and walking paths on Buran Mountain and Suraksan Mountain to further spread walking practice.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I hope this challenge will be a new source of vitality for daily life tired from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic,” and added, “We will continue to strive to make Nowon a ‘walking-friendly city’ that is enjoyable and safe.”

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