The city of Suwon, south of Seoul, is famous for the UNESCO-listed heritage site of Hwaseong Fortress, but over the years, it has fared better by becoming a city with stable governance.

Suwon, the capital of Gyeonggi Province and the largest of its 31 cities, responded promptly to the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, demonstrating its capabilities in handling the crisis and ensuring its citizens’ safety.

The local government is now taking steps toward becoming a city of equal citizenship, green growth and culture. Through a series of policies, the municipality has built social safety networks for vulnerable groups and pursued a green economy to accelerate its growth. The city has also crafted plans to make Suwon more appealing to the international community through cultural events.

--City for happy families--

Suwon City has put top priority on improving the livelihoods of its citizens. For instance, it suggested child safety and well-being policies during a roundtable discussion in December last year.

To keep children safe and prevent abuse, children aged between 10 and 17, parents and officials from the Child-Friendly City Committee discussed child safety in six different areas: Child abuse prevention, eradicating school violence, pedestrian safety for children, safety checks in children’s facilities, children in the digital environment and children’s health and safety.

Suwon City also made efforts to become an intercultural city by helping residents from culturally diverse backgrounds settle and adapt.

The city has launched programs for raising awareness about multicultural families and offer cultural experiences for multicultural families. They include arts and sports programs, education for those with multicultural backgrounds and support employment for married immigrants.

“The programs offered by the city are types of programs that can help Koreans and foreign residents respect and embrace each other’s culture,” an official at Suwon City said via a press release.

It added that the city would continue to create a “multicultural coexistence society” by making efforts to understand both the Korean and foreign populations in the city.

Suwon also made steps to improve integrity, a key indicator for fostering the public good and ensuring the legitimacy of local governments.

In a survey that gauged the levels of public integrity of local governments by the Anti-Corruption Civil Rights Commission, Suwon fell under Level 2 in the 2022 assessment, the second-highest level, for the third consecutive year, with a total of 79.4 points out of 100. The score is above the average of 76.6 among other city governments.

The 2022 index was drawn by the scores of integrity perception and efforts made by each local district government to fight against corruption.

For example, the city has supported residents’ employment in Japan and the United States, allowing them to experience internships outside the country.

This year, the city will offer 30 internship experiences in the US to those below the age of 34 with at least a high school diploma. Suwon will further provide special lectures on employment, such as explaining the corporate culture in the US to those selected and helping them find internships at a company there.

--Action for green growth--

In line with the country’s initiative to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, Suwon City plans to make a transition to a sustainable, carbon-neutral city led by members of the public. The city was also chosen as a site for the country’s carbon-neutral green city project organized by the Ministry of Environment in April last year.

“(Suwon City) will create a city where citizens can actively participate in creating a carbon-neutral city through a carbon-neutral green city project, and it will contribute to developing the west Suwon area,” said Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon in a statement.

The city is committed to making new buildings by incorporating sustainable initiatives and practices.

Under the green building construction project, Suwon City pays for part of the construction costs for buildings that have been used for more than 15 years for remodeling, rebuilding, repairing and renovating to improve residential quality and energy performance.

--Foire De Tours--

Suwon Center for International Cooperation aims to promote the city’s charms by participating in the “Foire De Tours 2023” exhibition to be held in France in May. Until the end of this month, it is seeking Suwon-based crafts organizations that could engage in the fair.

By partnering with the France-based exhibition, a Korea-themed hall will open its doors to visitors where they can revel in all the things that make Suwon attractive.

Also, Suwon has built a complex for meeting, incentive travel, convention and exhibition, or MICE, a sector it sees as a future growth engine that could enhance the city’s competitiveness and global image.

Now, the complex has turned into an international venue by opening the Suwon Convention Center in 2019, which also serves as a local landmark, and an online exhibition space to attract visitors from in and out of the country.