‘Social Economy Innovation Town’ Established in Gwangju

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju Metropolitan City has been selected for the ‘Social Economy Innovation Town Creation Contest’ conducted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, securing 14 billion KRW in national funding.

The creation of the Social Economy Innovation Town is a project that physically clusters social economy enterprises and support organizations to serve as a hub and networking base, establishes innovative spaces for social economy enterprises, and fosters an integrated support system and ecosystem for the social economy.

The Innovation Town is planned to be constructed within the Gwangju Station Urban Regeneration Innovation District by 2024, with a total project cost of 28 billion KRW. Nearby facilities such as the Complex Hub Center and Enterprise Innovation Growth Center have been recognized for the excellence of the location in evaluations.

Additionally, it is located along the route of Urban Railway Line 2, scheduled to open in 2023, offering excellent transportation accessibility. The open plaza on the first floor of the building will serve as a cultural enjoyment space for citizens, allowing anyone to participate in the social economy, and is expected to become a social economy hub.

To establish the Innovation Town, Gwangju City passed the Ministry of Industry’s preliminary qualification review last year, successfully hosted the 3rd Korea Social Economy Expo, strengthened communication among social economy organizations and key local stakeholders, and worked with local lawmakers to secure national budget allocation this year.

As a result of assessing the status of social economy enterprises in Gwangju, it was found that while quantitative growth and social economy-friendly capabilities exist, various indicators are low, many enterprises are small-scale, and there is a lack of sales channels, indicating the need for complex functional support considering the growth stage and industry characteristics of enterprises.

The Gwangju Social Economy Innovation Town has set the vision of ‘solving regional problems and spreading social values through the creation of a social economy hub’ and plans to implement detailed strategies aiming for ▲entry into high value-added sectors through technology and various infrastructure support ▲strengthening regional expertise through community-integrated problem solving ▲joint market development and sales expansion through product differentiation.

In particular, it will also perform specialized functions such as ▲spreading green new deal-type social economy business models unique to Gwangju ▲creating social value through urban regeneration-integrated social economy ▲establishing a global business hub for social economy based on cultural content.

The Innovation Town is expected to become an innovative cluster space that provides one-stop services including technological innovation, startup support, prototype production, and networking necessary for the full-cycle growth of social economy enterprises, helping to solve regional issues such as population decline, urban decay, and energy self-reliance, and further spreading social values.

Especially, it is expected to provide stable facilities to social economy actors in the Gwangju area and support operational systems, thereby revitalizing startup and management activities.

Park Jeong-hwan, Director of the City’s Job Economy Office, said, “Gwangju has long-standing community experience and social economy-friendly capabilities,” adding, “Based on these capabilities, we will do our best to become a leading city of social economy through the Social Economy Innovation Town, which is an aggregate of various functions.”