Mapo-gu to Build Disabled Welfare Town... Outlining Care and Job Opportunities for Disabled People

District's Current Mapo Nursing Hospital Remodeling and Expansion Plan for Mapo Disabled Welfare Town Conversion... Resident Briefing Session on 28th
Disabled Welfare Town to Install and Operate Integrated Service Facilities Including Priority Disabled Care Facilities and Cultural Jobs
Park Gang-su, Mapo District Mayor: "Urgent Need to Address Aging Disabled Population and Care... Aiming for Fundamental Improvement of Disabled Residents and Families' Lives"

As of the end of last year, the disabled population in Mapo-gu was 12,742, accounting for 3.5% of the total population. While Seoul has a total of 52 comprehensive welfare centers for the disabled, averaging 2.08 per autonomous district, Mapo-gu has only one center, which itself is significantly smaller than the average area (3,253㎡), measuring just 2,122㎡.

This shortage has led to an actual supply deficit, with nearly 200 people waiting for treatment rooms at the day care facilities within the welfare center for the disabled, highlighting a strong demand for expanding welfare facilities in the area.

As a solution, Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) plans to remodel the former Mapo-gu Council building (currently Mapo Nursing Hospital, located at 33 Seongsan-ro 4-gil, Mapo-gu) this year to establish the (tentatively named) Mapo Disabled Welfare Town.

Instead of investing a large budget to secure new spaces and build new facilities for the disabled, Mapo-gu intends to utilize the soon-to-be-closed Mapo Nursing Hospital to expand and operate it as the Disabled Welfare Town.

The district announced that the Mapo Disabled Welfare Town will be developed as a community space where people with disabilities of all ages, income levels, and disability types can come together, learn, and communicate.

This plan prioritizes essential facilities such as care centers for the disabled based on urgency, while also forecasting future demand to establish and operate integrated services across four major areas: culture, care, health, and employment.

In particular, the project will focus on supporting the independence of disabled residents by including a disabled employment center, a Meister vocational school, a caf?, and workshops. It will also leverage nearby infrastructure such as the Mapo Central Library and the Mapo Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled to create a space freely accessible to both disabled and non-disabled individuals.

To this end, on the 28th, the district held a residents’ briefing session at the Mapo Comprehensive Welfare Center for the Disabled, gathering about 100 participants including disabled individuals, residents, and welfare facility stakeholders to collect opinions on the installation plan and operational facilities (draft) for the Mapo Disabled Welfare Town.

Lee Ji-young, president of the Seoul Disabled Parents Solidarity Mapo Branch, who attended the briefing, expressed high expectations, saying, “The plan to build the Mapo Disabled Welfare Town is such joyful news that it brings tears to the eyes of people with disabilities and their caregiving families.”

The district plans to review the opinions gathered from this briefing and actively reflect them in the construction and operation of the Mapo Disabled Welfare Town, scheduled for 2025.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “With the increase in single-person households, the aging of the disabled population and caregiving issues are urgent tasks that our society must address immediately. Through the establishment of the Mapo Disabled Welfare Town, we will create a clear blueprint that brings fundamental changes to the lives of disabled residents and their families, not only by providing care but also by supplying quality jobs based on professional skill training and expanding the cultural and artistic foundations for the disabled.”

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