Busan Metropolitan City is expanding its network of ESG community hubs by repurposing daycare centers that closed due to declining birth rates. The city aims to transform these vacant spaces into community platforms combining local care services, environmental programs, and job creation.
The city announced it will hold an opening ceremony for the "Our Neighborhood ESG Center" in Buk-gu at Deokcheon Community Welfare Center on the 10th. Mayor Park Hyung-jun, Buk-gu District Mayor Oh Tae-won, Busan City Council member Kim Hyo-jung, and officials from Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged, Busan Bank, and Lotte Chemical will attend.
The Buk-gu location is the city's eighth ESG center and the third to repurpose a closed daycare facility. The city renovated the former Deokcheon Wongwang Daycare Center in Deokcheon-dong. Two additional centers in Dong-gu and Nam-gu will open this year, also utilizing closed daycare spaces.
The center will operate resource circulation programs for children and residents, including making keyrings from waste plastic and coffee grounds, and toy disassembly workshops for environmental education. A "Kids Market" will allow donations and affordable purchases of toys, clothing, shoes, and childcare items to promote everyday ESG practices.
Care services for vulnerable groups will also expand. The center plans to provide meal preparation and delivery services for 350 households including elderly residents living alone, multicultural families, and single-parent families in Buk-gu, combining nutritional support with welfare checks.
The city plans to develop the Buk-gu center as a hub for AI-powered Age-Tech services. In partnership with Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, the center will introduce senior-friendly technologies including financial services, rehabilitation robots, nutrition analysis, dementia prevention devices, and smart farms to reduce gaps in elderly care and foster the local silver industry.
The city also plans to expand the ESG center network to 16 locations by year-end in cooperation with public and private enterprises responding to the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
"The Our Neighborhood ESG Center is a new urban model where jobs, environment, and community come alive in one space," Mayor Park said. "We will continue expanding these centers to serve as a driving force in making our communities better places to live."
