People from Across the Country Flock to Mapo-gu to Learn the Secrets of Success Behind 'Hyo-do Bapsang' and More

As of November 2024, a total of 133 benchmarking sessions, with 'Hyodobapsang' drawing the most attention at 37 sessions
Visits and phone inquiries continue for Mapo Naru Space, Nuguna Movement Center, and Red Road

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, is communicating with the elderly while volunteering to serve filial piety meals.

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) has been gaining nationwide attention by introducing innovative policies in various fields such as welfare, culture, and tourism since the launch of the 8th local government administration.

In particular, local governments and academic institutions across the country have been continuously visiting and making inquiries by phone to benchmark Mapo-gu’s excellent cases.

As of November 2024, a total of 133 benchmarking sessions have been conducted. Among these, 105 were visits and 28 were inquiries made by phone.

By sector, welfare benchmarking was the most frequent with 107 cases. Among them, the ‘Hyodobapsang’ project attracted attention with a total of 37 cases.

Launched nationwide for the first time in April 2023, ‘Hyodobapsang’ is a one-stop customized elderly welfare policy that goes beyond simple meal support to carefully care for health and daily life, and it is highly praised among residents.

The public study cafe ‘Mapo Naru Space’ recorded the second highest number of benchmarking cases with 34. Other projects followed, including ‘Mapo Anyone Sports Center (20 cases)’, ‘Mapo-style Care Safe Housing Seobom House (4 cases)’, and ‘Gongdeok Silppuri Welfare Center (1 case)’.

In the fields of culture, tourism, and sports, a total of 10 benchmarking cases were conducted. The project with the most benchmarking was ‘Red Road’.

According to data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab, the number of foreign visitors to the Seogyo-dong area before the creation of Red Road in March 2023 was in the 30,000 range, but after its establishment in November 2023, it increased more than fourfold to 130,000. By June 2024, 180,000 foreigners visited the area, establishing Red Road as a representative tourist destination in Seoul.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District, is explaining about Hongdae Red Road to Oh Eun-taek, Mayor of Nam District, Busan, last June.

Other benchmarking cases included the ‘Mapo Naru Salted Shrimp Festival (2 cases)’ and the ‘Pet Camping Site (1 case)’.

Additionally, various projects on topics such as low birthrate (6 cases), green spaces and environment (4 cases), and jobs (6 cases) were benchmarked.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I am very honored that the policies we have promoted for the happiness of our residents are receiving so much attention,” adding, “Mapo-gu will continue to develop various policies to improve residents’ quality of life and revitalize the local economy to realize the ‘Era of Happiness for Mapo Residents.’”