Efforts to Realize Life-Cycle Customized Spatial Welfare Since the 7th Local Government Term
Building Infrastructure for Infants, Youth, and Seniors
Completion Goals: "Gwanak Cultural Welfare Town" in the Second Half of 2025, "District-Run Senior Comprehensive Welfare Town" in 2027
At present, welfare infrastructure is not simply a facility to support the socially vulnerable, but one of the core values of comprehensive welfare that supports all residents to live in better environments.
Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) has been continuously securing "life-cycle tailored spaces" enjoyed by all residents since the 7th local government term, strengthening the social safety net and making every effort to create a city where residents can live well.
The "Gwanak Family Happiness Center" located in Sinsa-dong, Gwanak-gu, is the district's first family culture complex facility encompassing infant care, women, and media. It offers a play experience hall where visitors can experience unique play culture, an infant toy library, and various programs and experiential content for women and residents.
The hub-type infant play space "I-rang" is a specialized childcare center unique to Gwanak-gu, with all six currently established locations having distinct characteristics. Parents gather at I-rang to engage in communal childcare and share parenting information. Children enjoy various experiential activities through location-specific programs with their parents, receiving great acclaim from parents of preschool children.
Gwanak Youth Center, the district’s official youth-friendly city with a youth population ratio of 41%, recorded over 102,000 users last year and serves as the comprehensive activity hub for youth in Gwanak-gu. The Youth Center is directly operated by the Youth Center Operating Committee composed of youth activists. The committee chair, known as the "Honorary Youth Center Director," acts as a communication channel representing youth voices and expands youth participation in policy activities.
"Sillim-dong Three-Room," which will move to the University-dong Youth Safe Housing in March, provides alternative spaces such as living rooms, studies, and workrooms for young people living in cramped spaces like one-room apartments and goshiwon (small dormitory rooms). It currently holds the largest membership of about 52,000 among youth centers operating in Seoul, effectively serving as a policy delivery medium for youth.
The proportion of residents aged 65 and older in Gwanak-gu is steadily increasing at about 18%, and the district is also focusing on building various "senior infrastructures" that support expanded social participation opportunities and income security for the elderly.
Last September, the district opened the "Gwanak Senior Happiness Center & 50 Plus Center," the first complex facility in the area encompassing middle-aged and senior generations, marking the first step toward spatial welfare for seniors. The Senior Happiness Center, housing the Gwanak branch of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, supports leisure activities and senior jobs. The 50 Plus Center operates programs such as reemployment, self-development activities, and care and health services, helping middle-aged and senior residents plan their second lives.
To establish balanced senior welfare infrastructure by region, the district plans to build the "Gwanak Cultural Welfare Town" in the Bongcheon area and the "District-Run Senior Comprehensive Welfare Town" in the Sillim area.
The "Gwanak Cultural Welfare Town," scheduled for completion in the second half of this year, will have multipurpose functions including a social welfare center, sports facilities, and a living culture center, providing comprehensive leisure welfare services for seniors.
The "District-Run Senior Comprehensive Welfare Town" has begun design work with a target completion year of 2027. From the basement first floor to the second floor, the district-run senior comprehensive welfare center will be located, and from the third to fifth floors, the district-run senior nursing home will be housed. The district expects this to become a central space for senior welfare in the Sillim area, where the elderly population ratio is high, responding to increasing demand for leisure, health, and nursing services.
Mayor Park Junhee said, "Gwanak-gu grows only when all residents are happy. Infrastructure is one of the major factors that local governments can influence to enhance residents' happiness. We will continue to secure 'generation-specific tailored welfare infrastructure' for residents and firmly build the foundation for a happy life for all residents."
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