District takes innovation prize at 2026 Korea Healthy City Awards for health-equity policies
Improvements span employment, safety and culture programs, with expanded resident participation and living environment upgrades
Seoul's Nowon-gu has received the Innovation Prize at the 2026 Korea Healthy City Awards.
The win marks the eighth consecutive year the district has received the award since 2019, a streak that includes one grand prize, further cementing the reputation of Nowon-gu's healthy-city policies.
The Korea Healthy City Awards are presented by the Korea Healthy Cities Partnership to recognize and promote outstanding healthy-city policies. This year, Nowon-gu was honored for embedding health equity across its district-wide policies and for improving systems and living conditions so that all residents can enjoy a healthy life.
The district has long recognized that health is shaped not only by individual lifestyle choices but also by income, housing conditions and social circumstances. With that in mind, it has worked to expand access to policies and services for residents most at risk of being left behind, while fostering resident participation and building health-friendly living environments.
A flagship achievement has been the use of health impact assessments to improve district programs. Since 2023, Nowon-gu has analyzed how major projects affect residents' health and health disparities, then used those findings to develop policy improvements.
In practice, the district revised the eligibility criteria for a public employment program that had disadvantaged low-income single-person households, and expanded the scope of a safety inspection and repair program for vulnerable households. Climate-change adaptation measures were also updated to factor in residence in aging housing or disaster-prone areas — beyond the existing age and income criteria — broadening protections for vulnerable groups.
Expanding access to cultural facilities and events was another area improved through health impact assessments. The district increased the number of complimentary seats at cultural events organized by the Nowon Cultural Foundation and introduced mobility support for people with disabilities, plain-language exhibition descriptions and audio guides for the visually impaired — ensuring that no resident is excluded from cultural life due to cost, transportation barriers or limited access to information.
The district also strengthened the foundations for residents to identify health issues and participate in policymaking. Through collaboration between the health promotion division and the youth policy division, a health subcommittee was established within the youth policy network, giving young people a direct channel to raise physical, mental and social health concerns and propose policies.
The Healthy City Academy and a supporters program have also served as avenues for resident engagement. Last year, 59 healthy-city supporters carried out 359 promotional activities and submitted 536 policy proposals; the district forwards resident suggestions to relevant departments for consideration in policy development.
Nowon-gu has also invested in building health-friendly environments where residents can walk, exercise and enjoy nature in their daily lives. By 2025, the district had repaired 48.57 kilometers of aging sidewalks and renovated 139 neighborhood and children's parks. It also created 8.17 kilometers of barrier-free forest trails across Bulam Mountain, Yeongchuk Mountain, Surak Mountain and Choan Mountain, making it easier for residents of all mobility levels to enjoy nature and stay physically active.
Efforts to embed health equity across all policies continue. The district has refined its health impact self-assessment questionnaire to help staff better understand health equity and apply it to their own programs. This year, officials responsible for 291 projects across 34 departments took part in the self-assessment, reviewing their work through a health-equity lens.
The district also shares urban health monitoring data with program departments to support policy improvements and the identification of new initiatives, and plans to develop a long-term comprehensive healthy-city master plan to build a sustainable foundation for its healthy-city policies going forward.
Nowon-gu District Mayor Seo Jun-o said the award was meaningful because it recognized the district's efforts to improve policies across the board so that every resident can live a healthy life. "We will continue to improve our policies and living environment so that all residents can enjoy a healthy life without discrimination or gaps," he said.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
