Gwanak-gu's dementia-safe city policy has been named an Exemplary Initiative at the 7th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, district mayor Park Jun-hee announced.
The Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation is a prestigious international prize co-hosted by the city of Guangzhou, the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and Metropolis. Since 2012, it has recognized innovative initiatives that advance the social, economic and environmental sustainability of cities and strengthen urban governance.
This year's competition drew a record 381 entries from 248 cities across 60 countries. Gwanak-gu earned a place among just 45 cities worldwide to receive recognition — 15 as finalist candidates and 30 as exemplary initiatives.
The award is particularly meaningful as it marks the district's second consecutive win, following its Exemplary Initiative selection at the 6th ceremony in 2023 for its "Youth Capital of South Korea" program. The back-to-back honors further cement Gwanak-gu's reputation for administrative innovation on the international stage.
The recognized initiative is titled "Gwanak: A Dementia-Safe City Built with the Community." As dementia emerges as a pressing social challenge worldwide, the district has long treated it not as a problem for individuals or families alone, but as a shared responsibility of the local community — and has pursued an integrated dementia policy accordingly.
The district shifted its approach from a reactive, after-the-fact care model to a proactive, prevention-centered system in which the community actively reaches out to residents. Built on close collaborative governance with residents and local organizations, the initiative established dementia-safe villages that drew high marks from evaluators.
The district expanded its dementia-safe village program to all 21 neighborhoods within its boundaries, giving residents natural, everyday opportunities to learn about dementia prevention and reduce stigma. It also built a tightly knit local resource network involving 188 dementia-fighting organizations, 292 dementia-safe affiliated businesses and 115 dementia-safe senior centers. In 2025, the network delivered concrete results: affiliated businesses helped safely return 22 wandering elderly residents to their homes within an average of 15 minutes, demonstrating the effectiveness of the public-private safety net.
In addition, the district integrated advanced information and communications technology to eliminate gaps in care. AI speakers were distributed to households of high-risk and diagnosed dementia patients to support memory training and provide emergency SOS call functions. Smart senior centers introduced face-recognition-based health monitoring and video education programs, dramatically improving elderly residents' access to administrative and medical services.
"It is deeply meaningful that the dementia-safe city policy we have built together with our community has been recognized for its excellence on the international stage," district mayor Park said. "We will continue to expand a comprehensive dementia prevention and care system that residents can feel in their daily lives."
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