'Shortest Routes and Amenities at a Glance' Seoul City Develops 'Exclusive Maps for Mobility-Impaired' Covering 174 Public Facilities

Smart Seoul Map 'Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Restricted Persons' for Elderly, Disabled, and Parenting Caregivers

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has developed an ‘Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Disadvantaged Persons’ to enhance information accessibility and mobility rights for the elderly, disabled, and childcare parents using strollers. It allows users to check convenience facility information within 174 popular public facilities as well as the shortest routes from public transportation to the facilities at a glance.

Seoul announced on the 23rd that from the 30th, the ‘Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Disadvantaged Persons’ will be available on the ‘Smart Seoul Map.’ It can be accessed via the internet or smartphone by navigating to Urban Life Map → Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Disadvantaged Persons within the site.

On the ‘Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Disadvantaged Persons,’ accessibility information for 174 public facilities such as Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention (SETEC), Seoul Museum of Art, and Seoul Museum of History can be viewed through visual icons. By selecting the desired facility on the map or searching by facility name and then choosing ‘Pedestrian Route Information,’ users can check whether it is possible to access the facility from a nearby (within 500m) subway station using a wheelchair, as well as the shortest route.

By selecting ‘Building Information,’ users can easily see on the map via icons whether facilities such as nursing rooms and accessible restrooms are available. For the elderly, disabled, and childcare parents, moving around the city itself can be a significant burden. Seoul expects to strengthen the mobility rights of these mobility-disadvantaged persons by enhancing their information accessibility, helping them to identify and use convenience facilities at their intended destinations in advance.

Starting with these 174 public facilities, Seoul plans to continuously expand the number of target facilities. To ensure that the rapidly changing facility status is quickly reflected on the map, the city aims to minimize user inconvenience by updating map information through a ‘Citizen Participation Group.’ Additionally, the city plans to open the map data developed this time so that private companies and others can utilize it to create value-added services such as app development in the future.

During the development of this map, Seoul also established three major principles for visualizing accessibility information and a standard manual. This is the first government-level standardized guideline in Korea regarding information display methods reflecting smartphone environments, where no such guidelines previously existed. Going forward, this manual will be applied to newly constructed or remodeled public facilities so that citizens can conveniently check internal convenience information of facilities via smartphones and other devices.

Meanwhile, detailed information about the ‘Accessibility Information Map for Mobility-Disadvantaged Persons’ service can be found at the Seoul Universal Design Center. A comprehensive report containing the background, process, and results of the map construction project, as well as the standard manual for producing accessibility information maps, is also available for viewing.

Lee Hye-young, Director of the Seoul Design Policy Division, said, “Mobility-disadvantaged persons need to check whether convenience facilities are properly equipped and easily accessible before visiting public facilities, but information was scattered and inconvenient. We will continue to collaborate with companies from various fields and civil society to bring practical changes to the daily lives of mobility-disadvantaged persons.”

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