Buyeo-gun is a historical and cultural city with 35.5% of the population aged 65 or older, and in 2004, it had already become a super-aged society, so an age-friendly policy is urgently needed. In order to promote an age-friendly environment, Buyeo-Gun has set its vision as ‘100-year-old city, the Capital of history and culture-Buyeo’ which meets the eight areas of the WHO guidelines and Buyeo-Gun’s goals.

Based on the guidelines for the 8 areas of the WHO’s age-friendly cities, a survey and expert FGIs were conducted, and the following three major tasks were derived.

1. Creating a convenient and safe infrastructure

•  Area 1: Housing facilities.
•  Area 2: Transportation
•  Area 3: Outdoor spaces and facilities

2. Creating a warm and happy community worth living in

• Area 4: Communication and Information
• Area 5: Social Participation
• Area 6: Respect and social embracing

3. Guaranteeing a healthy and engageing life

• Area 7: Citizen participation and employment
• Area 8: Community Support and Health Services

Buyeo-gun has formed an age-friendly monitoring group to develop policies for older citizens, prioritizing a bottom-up participation method and facilitating the participation in municipal policies in various ways including opportunities for older citizens to provide opinions that reflect their interests and needs.

Older volunteers who are responsible for monitoring detailed projects in each area are encouraged to analyze and give voice to the needs of older adults by collecting opinions and inputs on various social issues related to ageing, allowing for direct participation in the policy-making process.