Guro-gu Wins Grand Prize for 'Korea Knowledge Innovation Smart City Awards'

[Seoul District Award News] Gwanak-gu Selected as Excellent District for 5 Consecutive Years in 2021 Government Joint Evaluation, Secures Special Grant of 20 Million Won... Nowon-gu Wins 'Korea Healthy City Award' for 3 Consecutive Years... Dobong-gu Selected as Top Grade (S) in 2021 Government Joint Evaluation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) has won the Grand Prize for Knowledge Innovation Smart City in South Korea.

The ‘Smart City Award’ is given to outstanding local governments that create smart cities based on ‘knowledge innovation.’

The applicants were basic local governments nationwide, and after the first document screening and online presentation evaluation, seven local governments including Guro-gu were selected. The award ceremony was held on the 15th at the Seoul Club.

Guro-gu has taken the lead in creating a smart city based on solid smart infrastructure by establishing free Wi-Fi zones throughout the district, installing an IoT private communication network, and building a ‘Smart City Integrated Platform’ that links various district projects to an integrated operation center in real time. Based on this, smart policies promoted in the fields of safety, transportation, environment, and welfare received high evaluations.

In the safety field, the ‘IoT-based Smart Safety Management System for Facilities’ was established to predict the risk of collapse of aging and hazardous facilities in advance, and the ‘Smart City Integrated Platform’ was operated for proactive and active response in emergencies. In transportation, ICT-based ‘Alleyway Pedestrian Safety Helper’ and ‘Guro-type Smart Poles’ were installed. In the environment sector, an IoT-based real-time ultrafine dust information system was established, and the Guro Smart Farm Center was created. In welfare, safe care services for elderly living alone, daycare centers, and special schools, as well as the distribution of smart toy robots for the elderly and vulnerable groups, were recognized as excellent projects.

As a result of these efforts, Guro-type smart projects have achieved excellent results in various evaluations. In June this year, the ‘IoT-based Risk Facility Early Warning System’ predicting facility collapse risk was selected as an excellent policy and received the Chairman’s Award at the ‘Good Local Autonomy Policy Conference.’ In September, it was certified as an excellent smart city in the ‘Smart City Certification System’ hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) announced that it has been selected as an ‘Excellent District (Grade A)’ for five consecutive years in the ‘2021 Government Joint Evaluation’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The Government Joint Evaluation is a system in which the Ministry of the Interior and Safety comprehensively evaluates the performance of local governments in carrying out national delegated tasks, national subsidy projects, and major national policies over the past year across 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide.

The evaluation method involved Seoul selecting 52 quantitative and qualitative indicators based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s evaluation criteria and assessing each district’s achievement and effort levels.

In this evaluation, the district received excellent ratings across various areas affecting residents’ daily lives, including ▲excellent cases of overcoming the COVID-19 crisis ▲timely preparation rate of essential ordinances ▲priority purchase rate of social economy products ▲management rate of food poisoning occurrences ▲medical benefits performance for all beneficiaries ▲per capita recycling collection amount ▲discovery and investigation processing rate of welfare blind spots within the period ▲pet registration rate ▲increase rate of direct agricultural product transactions ▲achievement rate of community childcare sharing center installation goals, securing 20 million KRW in special grants from Seoul City as a financial incentive.

This was the result of systematic preparation for the evaluation, including monthly performance checks by indicator, staff training, holding countermeasure meetings, and conducting indicator analysis.

Based on this evaluation result, the district plans to conduct a detailed analysis of causes in some underperforming areas, prepare improvement measures, and continuously discover excellent projects to achieve even better results next year.

A district official said, “We will actively promote policies that allow residents to feel changes and improve their quality of life in all areas of district administration, including economy, safety, welfare, education and culture, and transportation and environment.”

Nowon-gu Running School VR Sports Experience

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) won the Grand Prize in the general policy category at the ‘2021 Korea Healthy City Awards.’

The Korea Healthy City Awards are presented annually by the Korea Healthy City Association to local governments that have shown outstanding achievements in improving residents’ health and quality of life.

Nowon-gu achieved a remarkable feat by winning the Excellence Award in 2019 with ‘Playful Schools, Healthy Schools, Nowon HELP (Healthy Eating Let’s Play),’ the Grand Prize in 2020 with ‘Nowon, Let’s Walk, Let’s Be Healthy!,’ and again the Grand Prize this year with ‘Finding Answers in Health and Walking during the COVID-19 Era,’ marking three consecutive years of awards.

This year’s award was highly evaluated for expanding non-face-to-face health promotion projects suitable for the COVID-19 situation and promoting customized physical activity activation projects. To this end, the district established a promotion strategy and strengthened interdepartmental cooperation to carry out various projects.

First, to promote physical activity limited by social distancing, the direction of health projects was shifted to IT-based non-face-to-face approaches suitable for the new normal era. Instead of large-scale resident events, monthly ‘Small Online Walking’ programs using apps were conducted, and a ‘Home Exercise Show-off’ contest was held to share exercise methods among residents. AI and IoT-based health management services monitor elderly people vulnerable to health issues and provide regular non-face-to-face consultations.

Additionally, customized health projects were strategically promoted. The district was the first local government to introduce health incentives, laying the foundation for self-directed health management. Those lacking physical activity were encouraged to participate in ‘Online Walking,’ while residents already regularly exercising were supported in forming proper health habits through ‘Correct Walking and Park Training.’ For children and adolescents, an advanced health playground was created by introducing virtual reality (VR) equipment in empty classrooms and unused spaces within schools. For local residents in self-quarantine, ‘Physical Activity Kits’ were distributed, conducting diverse projects tailored to each target and situation.

Finally, a walking-friendly environment was established. Safe and pleasant walking paths were created throughout the district, making them desirable routes. Efforts were made to create walking trails in each area utilizing green spaces that account for 62% of the district’s total area. Barrier-free deck paths and the Bulamsan Elevator Observatory were installed to create an environment where anyone can enjoy nature regardless of walking ability, making it a popular destination not only for residents but also for people from other regions.

As a result of these efforts, the health lifestyle practice rate of Nowon-gu residents in 2020 was 55.2%, an increase of 9.4% compared to the previous year, and the walking practice rate rose dramatically from the lowest in 2017 to first place among 25 districts in Seoul in 2020.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok of Nowon-gu said, “Our ongoing efforts to create a sustainable healthy welfare city, Nowon, are bearing fruit. We will continue to prioritize residents’ health and happiness and promote various projects.”

Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) announced on the 15th that it received the highest grade, S grade, in the ‘2021 (2020 performance) Government Joint Evaluation.’ With this S grade, Dobong-gu has been honored as an excellent district for 10 consecutive years in the Government Joint Evaluation.

The Government Joint Evaluation is a system in which the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and related central administrative agencies jointly evaluate the performance of major national policy implementation conducted by 17 metropolitan cities and provinces to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in national governance, according to the ‘Basic Act on Government Performance Evaluation.’

Based on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s evaluation results, Seoul City evaluated the performance of its 25 districts, and Dobong-gu achieved 84% of the tasks, being selected as the highest grade (S) and receiving a financial incentive of 33 million KRW.

The district has been striving to achieve its goals through monthly performance checks on various indicators, focused management of underperforming items, and staff training. Thanks to these continuous efforts, it achieved good results across various fields such as ▲activation of data-driven administration ▲utilization rate of public daycare centers ▲achievement rate of greenhouse gas reduction efforts ▲management rate of food poisoning occurrences ▲discovery and investigation processing rate of welfare blind spots within the period.

Mayor Lee Dong-jin of Dobong-gu said, “Achieving excellent results for 10 consecutive years in the Government Joint Evaluation, which consists of national tasks, is a meaningful recognition of Dobong-gu’s excellent administrative capabilities. I am pleased to share this proud news with our residents.”

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