Gwanak-gu Mayor Park Jun-hee Receives 'Korea Consumer Evaluation Excellence Award'

[Seoul District News] Park Junhee, Gwanak-gu Mayor, Designates Top 10 Local Shopping Districts by Zone, Advances Major Projects Including Byeolbit Sinsari Shopping District Renaissance & Establishes Dedicated Team for Local Commercial Revitalization, Fosters Self-Sustaining Foundations Like Our Neighborhood Store Artterior Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, “As the only Seoul district mayor who proclaims himself as an ‘economic mayor,’ I have been doing my best to revitalize neighborhood commercial districts, the foundation of the local economy, with the mindset of ‘I will pursue anything that helps small business owners, even if it’s just 10 won’ since the beginning of my term.”

Mayor Park Jun-hee’s efforts to revitalize the local economy have been highly evaluated, and on the 31st, he received the ‘2022 6th Korea Consumer Evaluation Excellence Award,’ hosted by the Startup Management Forum and organized by the Consumer Journal Cooperative. The award was in the local government executive category, and he is the only Seoul district mayor to receive it.

The ‘Korea Consumer Evaluation Excellence Award’ aims to protect consumers’ rights and promote producers’ growth by selecting and awarding individuals, companies, products, and services that have received excellent evaluations from consumers.

Mayor Park was highly praised for designating neighborhood commercial districts by region, which are the centers of residents’ lives, issuing the ‘Gwanak Love Gift Certificate’ to increase small business sales, and providing focused support from merchant organization to improving management infrastructure, presenting a successful model of neighborhood commercial districts that can be applied nationwide.

Since the launch of the 7th local government administration, Gwanak-gu established the first dedicated department for local commercial district revitalization among local governments nationwide in 2018, and in 2019, conducted a professional research project to establish a comprehensive plan for local economic revitalization, designating the top 10 neighborhood commercial districts that are the centers of residents’ lives.

Subsequently, through professional consulting for organizing commercial districts and improving the business environment, more concrete and practical support for neighborhood commercial districts is being provided, and mid- to long-term development plans are being sought through the establishment of master plans for each commercial district.

The ‘Our Neighborhood Store Artterior Support Project,’ which improves interior and product design by utilizing the sensibility and talent of local artists in small business stores, is also receiving great responses.

Starting with 144 locations in 2019, the support scale has expanded more than threefold annually, currently supporting a total of 1,267 locations including small businesses and stores in traditional markets, the largest scale among Seoul’s autonomous districts. The number of local artists participating in this project has reached 407.

Also, since the launch of the 7th local government administration, the district has been actively promoting policies to revitalize the local economy, including neighborhood commercial districts. It invested 8 billion won in the Starlight Sinsari Commercial District Renaissance Project to revitalize the commercial district around Sillim Station, issued 120.8 billion won worth of Gwanak Love Gift Certificates, and focused on creating a win-win and innovative economy by boosting small business sales and stimulating local community consumption.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “I am proud that our efforts to revitalize the local economy have been recognized as meaningful achievements. As an encore mayor, I will do my utmost to ensure that the projects carried out so far continue steadily into the 8th local government administration and that vitality blooms in the local economy struggling due to the economic downturn.”