Daegu City steps up efforts to improve living conditions and revive local vitality

【Financial News, Daegu = Kim Jang-wook, Reporter】Daegu City is stepping up efforts to improve living conditions and revive local vitality.
Daegu City was selected as an outstanding region in the evaluation of investment plans for the metropolitan account of the Local Extinction Response Fund, introduced for the first time this year by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and secured an additional 3.4 billion won.
The city said it assessed local conditions with a focus on the role of the metropolitan support account and took the lead in planning projects linking metropolitan and basic local governments, as well as metropolitan-level projects to improve living conditions. As a result, its projects were highly rated, and the city received an outstanding grade among 15 cities and provinces nationwide, securing an additional 3.4 billion won.
Administrative Deputy Mayor Kim Jeong-gi said, “Being selected for an outstanding grade and securing additional funding show that the city’s locally tailored strategy to address local extinction has been recognized externally.” He emphasized, “We will spend the funds efficiently to improve living conditions in ways residents can feel and to help restore local vitality.”
The Local Extinction Response Fund is funding distributed to regions annually, at a scale of 1 trillion won, from 2022 through 2031 to support locally led efforts to address local extinction.
The metropolitan support account had previously been distributed in fixed amounts based on population and fiscal conditions. This year, a new system was introduced under which investment plans submitted by metropolitan cities and provinces are evaluated and the additional allocation of 50 billion won is distributed on a differentiated basis, with the aim of improving results at the metropolitan level.
In particular, the city plans to devote the 3.4 billion won it secured to revitalizing struggling areas and creating sustainable living conditions. It also plans to further develop detailed project plans to deliver tangible results that residents can feel.
The city will first strengthen projects linking metropolitan and basic local governments. The funds will go toward creating everyday sports facilities in closed schools in depopulating areas; attracting visitors who stay in the area and boosting links with local businesses by enhancing the offerings at Apsan Park; and supporting a pilot project to turn senior centers in Gunwi County, which has one of the country’s highest aging indices, into smart hubs for everyday welfare services.
The city will also pursue metropolitan-level projects to improve living conditions. These include improving working conditions for early-career social welfare professionals and preventing young people majoring in the humanities and social sciences from leaving the region by linking them with the social and solidarity economy; and addressing gaps in infant and toddler care caused by both parents working, night shifts and holiday work through
24-hour care support for infants and toddlers; support for regional revitalization using aging modern-era architectural assets; and career exploration support to help people with developmental disabilities and people with severe disabilities settle in the region.
Meanwhile, building on this achievement, the city plans to carefully plan and carry out its 2027 Local Extinction Response Fund projects, improving their effectiveness and boosting local vitality in a range of ways.

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