One Senior Playground in Each of the 25 Districts by 2026
Customized Equipment with Barrier-Free Design
Accelerating the 'Comprehensive Plan for Responding to a Super-Aged Society'
Expanding Spaces and Facilities with 3.4 Trillion Won Investment Over Five Years
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will establish a 'Senior Playground' in each district by next year. The initiative aims to enable seniors to enjoy leisure activities and manage their health close to home. Seoul is also pursuing support measures tailored to a super-aged society, such as expanding vertical elevators for residents in hilly areas with limited mobility and increasing the number of park golf courses.
According to Seoul City on October 16, a total of 25 Senior Playgrounds will be built, one in each district, by next year. Since the first was established in Guro District in 2022, 13 sites are currently operating on a trial basis. The plan is to add 7 more by the end of this year and 5 additional sites next year.
Jangsu Park in Yangcheon District, where the Seoul-style 'Senior Playground' has been established. Seoul City
Each Senior Playground will be equipped with about 20 customized devices, including hand bicycles to strengthen muscles, racing tracks, stepping stones to enhance cognitive skills, and snake bridges to improve balance. The playgrounds will be designed barrier-free so that seniors, people with disabilities, and others with limited mobility can use them easily.
In particular, Seoul City has even developed and distributed the 'Seoul-Style Senior Playground Guidelines' to each district. The city has proposed a total of 77 types of facilities tailored for seniors, including 15 for social interaction, 47 for physical enhancement, and 15 for emotional healing.
Seoul City plans to continue introducing customized support measures for seniors in response to the super-aged society. In May, Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the 'Comprehensive Plan for Responding to a Super-Aged Society,' a mid- to long-term strategy through 2040. The plan consists of four major areas and ten key initiatives: strengthening community-based care and health systems; ensuring economically stable retirement; promoting seniors' participation in society and revitalizing leisure and culture; and creating an age-friendly urban environment.
The comprehensive plan will be implemented through 2040, by which time one in three Seoul residents will be aged 65 or older. The budget will start at 490 billion won next year, with a total of 3.4 trillion won to be invested over the next five years through 2030. A representative project is expanding spaces for seniors' cultural activities by transforming closed schools or underutilized public land into complex leisure and cultural spaces, such as shared offices and leisure programs, to be operated through 2040.
The highly popular park golf courses will also be expanded from the current 33 to 150 by 2040, including both indoor and outdoor facilities. In addition, the 'Seventh Grade Classroom' program, which supports social activities for seniors in a super-aged society, will be expanded. Following 200 new students this year, the goal is to increase the number of participating seniors to 21,000 by 2040.
The city also plans to establish 'senior retirement camps' so that seniors can attend humanities lectures at local educational and cultural institutions. The operation of 'senior companion stores,' which utilize private commercial facilities as leisure spaces for seniors, will also begin. Yoon Jongjang, Director of Welfare at Seoul City, said, "The Senior Playground is more than just a place for exercise; it is a welfare space embedded in daily life that brings vitality and warm communication to seniors' lives. We will continue to develop and implement multifaceted policies to help seniors enjoy a healthier and more vibrant retirement."
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