What Is the Secret Behind Nowon-gu's 3-Year Consecutive No.1 Walking Practice Rate?

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Announces ‘2022 Community Health Statistics’: Nowon-gu Ranks First Among Seoul Districts for Walking Practice Rate for 3 Consecutive Years! Achieves Record High Practice Rate of 69.6%

Thorough Efforts to Create a Walkable Environment Including Circular Walking Trails and Flower Beds Along Major Walking Paths

Various Community Sports Programs and Resident Participation Events Developed, Such as ‘Healing Walking’ by Dong for Seniors and Sports Equipment Rental ‘Exercise at Nowon Store’

Walking the Barrier-Free Forest Trail of Suraksan

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it has earned the honor of ranking first among Seoul’s districts for walking practice rate for three consecutive years and ranked second nationwide.

The walking practice rate refers to the percentage of residents who walk for at least 30 minutes a day, five or more days a week. According to the 2022 Community Health Statistics released last month by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Nowon-gu recorded a walking practice rate of 69.6%, the highest ever.

After ranking the lowest in Seoul in 2017 with 44.7%, the district declared itself a ‘Walking City Nowon’ in 2018 and has maintained the highest walking practice rate among Seoul’s districts since 2020.

Representative projects that actively encouraged residents to walk in their daily lives include ▲creation of walking trails ▲operation of various exercise programs ▲and hosting resident participation events.

Four Mountains and Four Streams in the Area... Abundant Attractions Alongside Walking Trails!

The district leverages its environmental advantage of bordering four mountains?Suraksan, Bulamsan, Yeongchuksan, and Choansan?and four streams?Jungnangcheon, Uicheon, Danghyeoncheon, and Mukdongcheon?to create an environment that is good and desirable for walking.

They have constructed ‘circular walking trails (barrier-free forest paths)’ with wooden decks at least 1.8 meters wide and slopes under 8%, allowing people with mobility challenges such as the disabled, seniors, pregnant women, and infants to comfortably enjoy the beautiful natural environment.

So far, a 2.1 km circular walking trail in Bulamsan (2019), a 3.39 km circular walking trail in Yeongchuksan (2021), and a 1.74 km barrier-free forest path in Suraksan (2022) have been completed. The 1.8 km circular walking trail project in Choansan is underway and expected to be completed next year. Once finished, all four major mountains in the area will have circular walking trails.

Additionally, the district is working hard to create enjoyable walking paths by planting flower paths along major walking trails and parks, including riverbanks. This spring, 2,405㎡ of spring flowers including Marguerite daisies, marigolds, and pelargoniums have been planted along Danghyeoncheon, Jungnangcheon, and Uicheon. Particularly, Danghyeoncheon features landmark sculptures themed on European travel, representing countries such as the UK, Italy, and the Netherlands, along with representative flowers. Healing flower fields along Jungnangcheon offer spectacular views with poppies in spring and cosmos in autumn.

Jungnangcheon Healing Flower Garden

Seoul’s First Mobile Physical Activity Equipment Rental ‘Exercise at Nowon Store’ and Dong-based ‘Healing Walking’ Program for Seniors in Operation

Furthermore, the district encourages participation in physical activities including walking by visiting neighborhoods. ‘Exercise at Nowon Store’ started last month, carrying a total of 36 types and 325 pieces of new sports equipment, visiting parks every Monday (Junggye Neighborhood Park), Wednesday (Satgatbong Neighborhood Park), and Friday (in front of Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Visitor Center), as well as on the second (Sanggye Neighborhood Park) and fourth (in front of Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Visitor Center) Saturdays of each month.

‘Exercise at Nowon Store’ is a mobile sports equipment rental service offering physical activity tools suitable for the whole family, from children to seniors, allowing visitors to parks to casually enjoy exercising with new equipment. Since its launch on the 21st of last month, the program has gained popularity with 92 families and 214 participants within a week.

The ‘Healing Walking’ program, available anytime for seniors aged 65 and older, is also in operation. Developed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) physical activity guidelines, it offers a 30-minute daily, 150-minute weekly course by dong. Currently, it is piloted in five dongs: Wolgye 2-dong, Gongneung 1-dong, Hagye 1-dong, Junggye 2 and 3-dong, and Sanggye 1-dong, with about 20 seniors participating daily on average. The district plans to encourage continued participation through incentives, health checkups, and small group activities.

Danghyeoncheon Specialized Flower Bed

‘Nowon Residents Appreciation Festival’ Walking Challenge Celebrating 3 Consecutive Years of First Place in Walking Practice Rate!

To express gratitude to the residents who made this achievement possible, the district is holding the walking challenge ‘Nowon Residents Appreciation Festival’ until the 28th.

To commemorate the record-high practice rate of 69.6%, among those who achieve 69,600 steps during the challenge period, 300 participants will be selected by lottery to receive a 5,000 KRW mobile cultural gift certificate. Additionally, six participants who are the 6th, 9th, 69th, 696th, 1,696th, and 2,696th to join the challenge, as well as six participants who reach 69,600 steps, will each receive a 10,000 KRW mobile cultural gift certificate.

The event recognizes up to 10,000 steps per day. Participation is possible by installing the ‘WalkOn’ app from Google Play or the App Store, joining the official district community ‘Walking City Nowon,’ and registering for the challenge. In last month’s spring walking challenge, a total of 2,705 people participated, with 1,618 (59.8%) achieving the goal.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I am very pleased that the walking practice rate, which was the lowest in Seoul in 2017, has ranked first for three consecutive years thanks to the enthusiastic participation of our residents. We will continue to do our best toward a healthy city Nowon by creating a safe and happy walking environment and developing various physical activity programs.”

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