Suwon City Selects 'Best 7 City Policies' for 2011

Suwon City announced on the 26th that it has selected eight projects as the '2011 Suwon City Best 7 Policies,' including the 'Selection of Suwon Hwaseong Fortress as Korea's Representative Premier Tourist Destination,' which advanced the city's development and improved the quality of residents' lives.

In addition to this, the Best 7 City Policies include ▲Suwon Stream Restoration Project ▲Korea Landscape Award Winner ▲Village Renaissance Project Implementation ▲Creation of Suwon Citizens' Forest in Mongolia ▲Operation of Care System for Elderly Living Alone ▲Urban Regeneration Project ▲Installation of Flood Prevention Facilities in Flood-Prone Homes.

The city announced that a tie resulted during the evaluation of each project for selecting this year's Best 7, leading to the selection of eight projects in total.

The selection of Suwon Hwaseong Fortress as Korea's Representative Premier Tourist Destination was highly evaluated for significantly improving the city's image by widely publicizing Suwon Hwaseong both domestically and internationally, as well as for establishing grounds to receive government support for tourism infrastructure development projects.

In February, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the selection of eight places including Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, Hahoe Village in Andong, and Insadong in Seoul as must-see Korean tourist destinations for both domestic and international visitors, and declared that these sites will be developed as world-class tourist attractions.

The Suwon Stream Restoration Project was a project that removed concrete covers from the 780-meter section between Jidong Bridge and Maegyo Bridge, which had been covered since 1994, and restored it as an ecological stream. The project received acclaim for revitalizing traditional markets.

The First Korea Landscape Award was recognized for outstanding cases including cultural heritage restoration and fortress viewpoint management, gaining national recognition and acknowledging the city's capability in historic landscape improvement. The Village Renaissance Project was evaluated for advancing village improvements while forming consensus with residents.

The creation of Suwon Citizens' Forest in Mongolia was implemented in response to international concerns regarding global warming and desertification, elevating the international standing of environmentally-conscious Suwon City. The emergency safety care system for elderly living alone improved residents' quality of life through 24-hour monitoring and preventive administration.

The Urban Regeneration Project, carried out jointly by citizens, experts, and the administration, helped resolve resident disputes in the redevelopment process and contributed to smooth implementation. The flood prevention facilities in flood-prone homes achieved significant damage reduction by preventing flooding damage in advance.

The city announced that it selected the Best 7 through surveys of approximately 1,600 people including citizens, city council members, journalists, and civil servants, based on 34 projects submitted as good policies that contributed to the city's development this year.