- Playground to be built at the Child Love Dream Center, creating a one-stop childcare hub for play, counseling, and parenting support -
The Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Chan-dae) announced that it has been selected for the 2026 Mom-Friendly Playground project, a joint initiative by the Lotte Group and ChildFund Korea to improve play environments for infants and young children.
This achievement, which overcame budget constraints through public-private collaboration, will bring a high-quality indoor playground to the Child Love Dream Center currently under construction in Bupyeong-gu.
The Child Love Dream Center is a comprehensive childcare support facility being developed at a total cost of KRW 37.6 billion in coordination with the Support Center For Childcare and the Mom Center. The center is designed as a one-stop childcare hub where families can access developmental screenings, play experiences, water play, parenting counseling, and nature-based activities in one location.
Although the facility offers a wide range of services, the city faced significant challenges in securing national government funding and other financial resources. To address this, it turned to a competitive grant program sponsored by a private company. From the outset of the application process, the city carefully analyzed the strengths and challenges of the Child Love Dream Center and proposed a facility layout and sustainable operational plan tailored to local needs, ultimately securing selection for the project.
In particular, key factors in the successful selection included the seamless integration of services with the Support Center For Childcare and the Mom Center, projected growth in the child population, and excellent accessibility to nearby facilities, including a sports center and hospital.
The indoor playground will be located on the second floor of Building A at the Child Love Dream Center in Bupyeong-gu and will occupy 471.3 square meters of the facility’s total 1,347-square-meter floor area. The project will be carried out through a three-party partnership, with the Lotte Group providing funding, ChildFund Korea overseeing overall project implementation, and the Incheon Metropolitan City assuming ownership and operating the facility upon completion.
Before construction begins in the second half of this year, the city will conduct a needs assessment of children, the playground’s primary users. Following the design and construction phases, completion is scheduled for December. The city expects the facility to become a creative playground where children can play freely and safely as part of their everyday lives.
Mayor Park Chan-dae stated, “Being selected for the Mom-Friendly Playground project marks the first meaningful achievement in bringing to life our vision of making Incheon “A City Where Children Are Happy.” Although budget constraints posed challenges to creating the space, we are delighted that collaboration with the private sector has enabled us to build a high-quality indoor playground where children can play to their hearts’ content.”
He added, “We will continue to actively explore diverse public-private partnerships as we work toward making Incheon a city where children are happy.”
