Ansan City Wins Top Excellence Award at Governance Local Politics Awards for Conflict Resolution at Citizens' Market

On March 18, Ansan City (Mayor Lee Mingun) announced that it has won the Excellence Award in the conflict resolution and social integration category at the "8th Governance Local Politics Awards 2026."

The City of Ansan (Mayor Lee Mingun) has been awarded the Grand Prize in the Conflict Resolution and Social Integration category at the '2026 8th Governance Local Politics Awards.' Provided by the City of Ansan

Following last year's Excellence Award in the "Administrative and Political Culture Innovation" category, Ansan City has achieved the distinction of winning for two consecutive years. This year, the city received the top award for its initiative titled "Changes Brought by a Citizen-Elected Mayor! A Consistently Citizen-Centered Community! Communication, On-Site, Integration."

The "Governance Local Politics Awards" is a prestigious award held annually to discover and promote exemplary cases of participatory and partnership-based local autonomy. It is organized by the Governance Center and sponsored by the Presidential Committee for the Era of Local Autonomy, the Association of Metropolitan and Provincial Governors of the Republic of Korea, and the Association of Mayors, County Governors, and District Heads of Korea, among others.

This award recognized Ansan City for establishing a governance framework and resolving conflicts in cooperation with Ansan Police Station and Ansan Urban Corporation during the closure process of Ansan Citizens' Market, which was highly valued by the judges.

Ansan Citizens' Market (located at 604-4 and 604-7, Choji-dong) had been a key player in the local commercial district since its opening in 1997. However, due to the aging of merchants, deterioration of facilities, and changes in consumer trends, the number of visitors decreased and calls for its closure had been raised continuously.

In response, Ansan City identified the need for redevelopment through a site utilization study in 2022, and proceeded with consultations to guarantee the merchants' right to livelihood and provide eviction support measures. After nearly a year of discussions, the city secured the consent of all 189 merchants and completed the return of the stores.

This process was evaluated as a model case of governance leading to conflict resolution and social integration, as demonstrated in each step of the review process, including written evaluation, interviews, and on-site inspections.

A member of the on-site inspection team remarked, "I was deeply impressed by the history and scale of Ansan Citizens' Market," adding, "The fact that Ansan City successfully brought together both merchants and citizens through governance and achieved redevelopment outcomes makes this a model for other local governments."

Mayor Lee Mingun stated, "The efforts of public officials to directly communicate with citizens on-site and seek solutions for conflict resolution have led to meaningful results," and added, "We will continue to strengthen our foundation for cooperation to respond to various conflict situations, ensuring administrative practices that resonate with our citizens."

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