Ganghwa County Wins Grand Prize at 2023 Incheon City Urban Regeneration Resident Participation Competition

[Suwon Ilbo=Choi Ki-ho] Ganghwa County announced on the 29th that the Ganghwa Namsan Village Management Social Cooperative (Chairman Kim Sang-bae) won the grand prize at the recently held '2023 Incheon City Urban Regeneration Resident Participation Competition.'

Incheon City holds an annual urban regeneration resident participation competition to share and disseminate the achievements and resident participation cases of urban regeneration projects.

Ganghwa Namsan Village has participated since 2021 and achieved the distinction of being awarded three consecutive years. In particular, this year the Namsan Village Management Social Cooperative received high praise for △operational capacity △realization of sustainable revenue-generating models △creation of local jobs △and level of community participation, earning the honor of the grand prize.

Namsan Village, which has been pursuing urban regeneration projects since 2019, established Ganghwa County's first village management cooperative in March 2022, centered around the resident council. With most cooperative members aged 60 and above, the village has demonstrated good business performance through stable operational capacity and steady sales increases, making it a noted best practice case.

Currently, the cooperative directly operates a village cafe and side dish, lunch box, and meal sales businesses at the Ganghwa County Happiness Center, producing good results in creating local employment and contributing to residents' income. Additionally, it is making efforts to allocate a portion of profits to community contributions and strengthen capacity to enable residents to lead the ongoing urban regeneration projects.

A county official stated, "Rural areas face serious aging, making elderly employment and income more important than ever, and the Namsan Village Cooperative is setting a good example in creating jobs for seniors and local residents," adding "We will continue to provide full support so that it can become a good model capable of continuous growth while communicating with the community, thereby driving regional revitalization."