Gwangju City Launches Full-Scale Implementation of Life-Customized Policies Expanding Senior Citizen Infrastructure

Park Golf Courses Reborn as Community Sports Facilities
New Senior Welfare Town and Sanseong-ri Senior Center in the Eastern Region
Opening of "Gwangju Senior Club," a Dedicated Institution for Senior Employment
Promotion of Comprehensive Funeral Facility Construction... Improved Access to Crematoriums Expected

As of December last year, South Korea entered a "super-aged society." The UN (United Nations) classifies a society as super-aged when the proportion of people aged 65 and over exceeds 20% of the total population. According to the 2024 resident registration population statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (as of December 31, 2024), the population aged 65 and over was 10,256,782, accounting for 20.03% of the total population.

Bang Se-hwan, Mayor of Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, delivering a greeting at the opening ceremony of Cheongseok Park Park Golf Course in 2023. Provided by Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do

Amid these demographic changes, the "Active Senior" group, who continue to actively engage in social life, leisure, and consumption activities even after retirement, is gaining new attention.

Gwangju City is promoting multifaceted, tailored elderly policies that cover the entire life cycle, including expanding living sports spaces such as park golf courses, establishing welfare infrastructure, creating jobs for the elderly, and providing post-funeral facilities, in line with the times.

The park golf course in Cheongseok Park, Ssangryeong-dong, Gwangju City, was closed in May 2023 due to restrictions in the Paldang Lake Special Measures Area Zone 1, which prohibited the installation of natural grass. Since about 2,000 people used the facility monthly, the closure caused significant inconvenience to citizens and members of the Park Golf Association.

In response, Gwangju City consulted with the Han River Basin Environmental Office, proposed an alternative facility plan that prohibits the use of pesticides and fertilizers and does not affect water flow, and successfully reopened the course. This achievement led to the inclusion of the plan in the "Partial Amendment Notice of the Special Measures Area Designation and Comprehensive Measures for Water Quality Conservation of Paldang and Daecheong Lakes."

Through this, citizens' opportunities to participate in living sports were restored, and convenience was improved.

Meanwhile, according to the "Supply and Demand Analysis of Park Golf Courses in 17 Cities and Provinces" report by the National Institute for Public Finance, demand for park golf temporarily surged due to a preference for outdoor activities after COVID-19 but has recently shown a slight decline in usage rates.

In fact, the golf participation rate among those aged 40 to 70 and above increased from 4.5% in 2020 to 9.3% in 2022, then decreased again to 5.3% in 2023.

Gwangju City plans to redefine the role of park golf courses as small-scale living sports facilities in daily life, while simultaneously pursuing efficient operation and demand-based expansion in line with these demand trends.

Gwangju Senior Club Opening Ceremony. Provided by Gyeonggi Gwangju City

To eliminate welfare blind spots for the elderly, Gwangju City plans to build a "Senior Welfare Town" in Ssangdong, Chowoal-eup, in the eastern region.

The welfare town will be located at 371 Ssangdong-ri and will consist of two 3- to 4-story complex welfare facilities, including a senior welfare center, nursing home, day and night care facilities, and a health center.

The city revised the plan in December last year and completed the local finance investment review in January this year. Land compensation will be pursued within the year, and construction is scheduled to begin next year.

Additionally, in Sanseong-ri, Namhansanseong-myeon, a new senior center with a site area of 1,100㎡ will be constructed to replace the existing small senior center.

The site was secured through the exchange of shared property between provincial and city-owned land, and ownership registration was completed last month.

Design work will begin this month, with plans to provide new leisure and rest spaces for seniors by the end of the year.

On March 13, Gwangju City officially opened the "Gwangju Senior Club," a dedicated institution for senior jobs.

With a total budget of approximately 8.48 billion KRW this year, 16 project teams will operate, involving 1,898 seniors.

Specifically, the participants are composed of 1,125 in public interest activities, 413 in capacity utilization projects, 59 in community projects, and 176 in employment support.

The club is operated by the Korea Welfare Management Promotion Institute, selected through an open recruitment process.

The city plans to continuously discover and expand high-quality, customized jobs reflecting regional characteristics to meet the increasing job demand due to the growing elderly population.

Senior Job and Social Activity Support Project Briefing Session. Provided by Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do

Gwangju City, in cooperation with SK Hynix, is operating the "Happy Lunchbox" support project for elderly people living alone as part of a public-private joint social safety net.

This project selects 100 elderly care service recipients and delivers lunchboxes once a week, providing customized welfare services that include welfare checks and health promotion.

All expenses for the lunchbox project are fully covered by SK Hynix and are continuously pursued through annual consultations.

Gwangju City is promoting the construction of a comprehensive funeral facility to respond to the continuously increasing cremation rate and to improve citizens' convenience in funerals.

The site selection contest process is currently underway, and a feasibility study is planned within the year.

To this end, last April, explanatory meetings were held in major areas such as Chowoal-eup, Gonjiam-eup, Docheok-myeon, Toechon-myeon, and Namhansanseong-myeon, and in July, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with Hanam City, leading to metropolitan-level cooperation.

Bang Se-hwan, Mayor of Gwangju City, stated, "As our society has entered a super-aged phase, we are proactively discovering various policies for the elderly," and added, "We will continue to implement customized elderly welfare policies that respond to the changing times."

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