‘Disease-free longevity’ is a long-standing dream of mankind. As human lifespan increases due to improvements in living conditions and advancements in medical technology, humanity is finally approaching the age of average lifespan of 100 years. Meanwhile, even in Korea, local governments are competing to become ‘healthy cities.’ There are 103 member cities of the Korea Healthy Cities Council, which was launched in 2006. In Jeonbuk, there are five cities and counties: Muju, Jangsu, Jinan, Gunsan, and Namwon. The World Health Organization defines the concept of a healthy city as ‘a city in which local community entities cooperate to continuously strive to improve the health and quality of life of citizens while creatively developing the city’s physical, social, and environmental conditions.’ defined.
So, is a ‘longevity city’ a ‘healthy city’? The world’s longest-living cities, where many elderly people live healthily past the age of 100, have long attracted the world’s attention. This may be because they want to know the secret to humanity’s dream of living a long, disease-free life. So, I tried to find their secrets by looking at the natural environment of these cities and the eating habits and lifestyles of their residents. The representative longevity cities in the world were selected as the ‘Blue Zone’ regions of Sardinia, Italy, Nicoya, Costa Rica, Ikaria, Greece, Okinawa, Japan, and Loma Linda, USA. In Korea, rankings of cities with long lifespans with many people over 100 years old were released to the media one after another, attracting attention. According to data from the National Statistical Office, the city with the largest population of people over 100 years old per 100,000 people is Muju-gun as of 2022, and Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do as of 2023.
Are these cities really healthy and long-lived cities? As of 2022 and 2023, the top 10 cities with the highest percentage of super-elderly population over 100 years of age are all local small cities at the county level, not urban areas. What they have in common is that they are at a serious risk of regional extinction due to population decline. In Jeonbuk, Muju, Gochang, and Jangsu-gun were included. As the youth population continues to outflow amidst the low birth rate trend, the proportion of the elderly population, including those aged 100 or older, has increased.
Can this area really be called a city of longevity or health? Okinawa, Japan, which made a name for itself by being recognized by the World Health Organization as ‘the world’s best longevity town’, has lost its old reputation and is being ridiculed as a ‘short-lived city’ as the average life expectancy has fallen sharply in the 2000s. It is difficult to guarantee sustainability in Muju and Goheung, which were recently ranked as the cities with the largest population of people over 100 years old in Korea, and the population crisis is worsening.
Just because it is not the average age and has a high proportion of the super-elderly population over 100 years old, it cannot be called a city of longevity or a city of health. A healthy city is a place that pursues healthy lives for its citizens by continuously improving the living environment. A ‘healthy city’ where everyone wants to live is a place that revitalizes the community by discovering and promoting projects suited to local characteristics in areas such as health and medicine, environment, welfare, education, culture, and transportation, with the goal of a healthy life for all citizens. ‘Isn’t it?
/ Kim Jong-pyo, editorial writer
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