Hwaseong City, Set to Become a Special City Next Year, Also Earns the Title of 'International Safe City'

Passed Final ISCCC Certification Review
Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun: "We Will Enhance the Status of a Global Safe City"

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province, which will be promoted as the fifth special city next year, has also earned the title of 'International Safe Community.'

Hwaseong City announced on the 23rd that it passed the final evaluation for the 'International Safe Community' certification conducted on the 19th and 20th.

The evaluation team is conducting an on-site inspection during the final review for the 'International Safe City' certification. Photo by Hwaseong City

The 'International Safe Community' certification is a safety city accreditation system overseen by the International Safe Community Certifying Centre (ISCCC) located in Stockholm, Sweden. It grants certification by evaluating a city's comprehensive safety system and various policies for citizen safety. Currently, 438 cities worldwide, including 30 cities in Korea such as Hwaseong, have received this certification.

Since 2019, the city has been preparing to obtain the International Safe Community certification. To this end, it has promoted various safety policies prioritizing citizen safety in line with urbanization and population growth. In particular, it encouraged citizen participation in various safety education and training to raise safety awareness, improved organizational systems to prevent disasters such as fires and typhoons, as well as industrial accidents, and made efforts to achieve certification.

The final evaluation was conducted over two days both online and offline. The panel of judges held non-face-to-face video conferences to review safety policies in areas such as ▲injury surveillance systems ▲traffic safety ▲suicide prevention ▲crime and violence prevention ▲disaster and industrial accident prevention.

The on-site inspection team visited Hwawon Elementary School in Hagil-ri, Hyangnam-eup, the section where the Gowoonsik crosswalk was installed, and Hwaseong City Smart Urban Integrated Operation Center to directly evaluate ▲the operation of the smart school zone pedestrian safety system and pedestrian safety instructors ▲projects to improve frequent traffic accident sites ▲and the operation of the intelligent system at the smart control center.

As a result of the evaluation, Hwaseong City met all six certification criteria of the International Safe Community Certifying Centre, including ▲governance ▲injury surveillance ▲comprehensive injury prevention programs ▲vulnerable groups and environment ▲evaluation ▲networking.

Gulbrant Schønberg, Secretary-General of ISCCC and head of the evaluation panel, declared after the assessment, "Hwaseong City's safety policies fully meet all six certification criteria of the International Safe Community Certifying Centre and are of a very excellent level," announcing the final approval.

Jung Myung-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong City, said, "Obtaining the International Safe Community certification is an achievement that proves Hwaseong City's safety policies meet global standards," adding, "We will enhance Hwaseong City's status as a global safe city through cooperation with other international safe communities."

Based on this certification, the city plans to expand education and campaigns to raise citizens' safety awareness and create a safe urban environment by strengthening smart safety systems using the latest technologies.