[Interview] Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, "New Mapo Foundation Materializes through Pilot Projects like Filial Piety Meal Service"

Filial Piety Meal Service, Mapo Circular Train Bus, Red Road and Other Key Projects of the 8th Local Government Now in Full Operation

Administrative Efforts Focused on Maximizing Regional Development and Resident Happiness

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “If the past six months were a time to prepare for the change towards a ‘New Mapo, Better Mapo,’ then this year can be said to be the year when these changes become visible.”

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, said in a New Year interview that 2023 is the period when policies aimed at maximizing regional development and resident happiness will be actively implemented.

Among these, Mayor Park particularly highlights the pilot operation of the ‘Filial Piety Meal Service for Residents Aged 75 and Over’ starting this year.

Mayor Park explained, “The Filial Piety Meal Service is a project that provides free, balanced lunch meals to residents aged 75 and older in the area who need meal support, preventing hunger and nutritional deficiencies. The goal is not just simple free meals but to operate it as an integrated service that also manages daily life.”

He added, “It is a community-based welfare service where the beneficiaries gather in dining spaces to communicate, preventing depression and solitary deaths, and for those elderly who are not visited, their well-being and health status are checked to care for their daily lives.”

Last year, the district formed a Filial Piety Meal Service task force including elderly welfare policy experts, religious institution representatives, and local elderly residents themselves, and laid the groundwork for the project by enacting the Seoul Special City Mapo District Ordinance on Elderly Meal Support.

Mayor Park said, “The key is to operate the project as a resident-participatory model utilizing local resources rather than covering all costs with the budget. One way to encourage resident participation is through fundraising, and starting with myself, participation from local residents and businesses is continuously increasing through the ‘One Person One Account Movement’ conducted by the Mapo Welfare Foundation.”

Based on this foundation, the district plans to select about 10 institutions to participate in the Filial Piety Meal Service and pilot the program for 600 elderly residents this year. Participating institutions will be selected comprehensively considering meal facility size, operational capacity, regional distribution, and the walking range of the elderly. Since the dining locations must be accessible to the elderly, once institutions are selected, meal recipients will be recruited within those areas.

The ‘Mapo Circular Train Bus,’ responsible for Mapo’s attractions, food, and entertainment, is also scheduled to begin a pilot project this year. Additionally, efforts will be intensified to revitalize the Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone by creating the ‘Red Road’ in Hongdae and improving infrastructure for walkable streets.

The Mapo Circular Train Bus is a tourist circular bus project using a small bus shaped like a train with about 25 seats, connecting major tourist spots in Mapo. Mayor Park said, “We are planning a route starting from Mapo Terminal, the terminus of Seoul’s streetcar, connecting along the Han River to Hongdae (Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone), Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, Yonggang Food Culture Street, Mapo Saebit Cultural Forest, Jeoldusan Martyrs’ Shrine, Mangwon Market, Peace Park, Sky Park, Sunset Park, Nanji Stream Park, and Nanji Han River Park.”

The district is conducting a business roadmap and feasibility study for this plan by April this year, and once detailed plans are established, infrastructure such as bus purchases and boarding stations will be built, aiming for pilot operation in the second half of this year. It is expected that official operation will begin around 2024.

Mayor Park said, “We will create the ‘Red Road’ connecting Hongdae’s Walkable Street and Danginri Power Plant,” expressing his ambition to make Hongdae a tourism-specialized street comparable to Montmartre Hill or the Champs-?lys?es. Streets representing the Hongdae Special Zone will be categorized into club streets, clothing streets, food streets, etc., and representative colors will be selected for each street to make it easy for anyone to recognize the characteristics of each alley, with floor painting planned. A BI and logo symbolizing the ‘Red Road’ will also be produced.

Furthermore, Eoulmadang-ro is also planned to be transformed into a specialized street. Existing street facilities that hinder pedestrian movement such as the Hongdae West Public Parking Lot, Cindy Ticket Lounge, and Small Park (Village Yard) will be completely renovated, and the road will be newly paved to be reconfigured as a space where regular performances and exhibitions can be held, including the Hongdae Festival and the 365 Our Neighborhood Busking Tour. The district expects that once Eoulmadang-ro is developed as a specialized street, a pedestrian network connecting the Hongdae Cultural and Arts Tourism Special Zone to Danginri and the Han River will be established, raising the tourism brand value of the Hongdae area to a new level.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, said, “We will carefully ensure that administrative benefits reach everyone from infants to the elderly without exclusion, and strive to make the city a tourism hub that attracts people, thereby revitalizing the local economy. Through this, we will do our best to create a Mapo that maximizes regional development and resident happiness.”