Increasing Green Healing Spaces with Urban Agriculture Parks, Adventure Forests, Miracle Playgrounds, and Infant Forest Experience Facilities
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is revitalizing the daily lives of citizens who are physically and mentally exhausted due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic by creating various healing spaces.
During the 7th local government term, Gwanak-gu set the goal of establishing a ‘Clean Living Space’ where people and nature harmonize, and is carrying out various projects to increase the quality of life and happiness index of residents by expanding urban rest areas.
The Deulbueo Urban Agriculture Park (located at 86-6 Samsung-dong), which opened last year, is a representative healing space in Gwanak-gu. On a 15,000㎡ site, it offers diverse content such as cultivation experience gardens, herb and rose gardens, healing forests, and beekeeping experience centers, creating a leisure space where residents can directly cultivate fields and enjoy walking and resting.
In autumn, part of the urban agriculture harvest is shared with neighbors in need, and residents interact with each other, contributing to the spread of community culture. Along with the Urban Agriculture Park, the district operates a total of 71 garden sites covering 28,000㎡, including the largest single-area garden in Seoul, Gang Gam-chan Garden (13,760㎡), Nakseongdae Garden, and Seorim-dong Garden.
Gwanaksan Mountain is home to Seoul’s largest ‘Gwanaksan Adventure Forest’ (14,000㎡). This unique space allows people to enjoy forest sports amidst green nature even in the city, featuring 21 adventure courses such as a 141m-long zip coaster, net climbing, and spider web playground, making it a forest amusement park.
Especially, the Adventure Forest, designed with an eco-friendly approach that does not cut down a single tree and utilizes the dense forest, is highly popular among family visitors as a place for natural experiential learning.
Efforts are also being accelerated to create the Miracle Children’s Playground, which stimulates children’s sensitivity and imagination and fosters a spirit of challenge. Aging and uniform playgrounds are being transformed into safe and nature-friendly spaces tailored to children’s emotions and perspectives, providing children with spaces for curiosity and imagination and residents with rest areas and community spaces.
Following the creation of four sites last year (Seowon, Bian, Mugunghwa, Haetae), four more sites (Hapsil, Sangnok, Nambu, Halla) will be added in July this year. The district plans to increase the number of Miracle Playgrounds where children can meet play and nature by two more sites by 2022, totaling 10 sites.
Forest experience facilities for toddlers will also be greatly expanded. Spaces where play and learning coexist, such as natural playgrounds, insect observation exhibition halls, and natural material learning facilities, will be created to increase places where children can enjoy nature with their families.
The district has established and is operating four additional toddler forest experience centers (Seonwoo Park, Samsung-dong, Daehak-dong, Danggok) and three toddler natural learning centers (Samsung-dong, Urban Agriculture Park, Guksabong Toddler Natural Learning Center) since the launch of the 7th local government term, in addition to the existing two centers (Cheongryongsan, Nakseongdae). By 2022, one more toddler forest experience center and two more toddler natural learning centers will be added, expanding a total of 10 toddler forest experience facilities.
With the opening of the Sillim Line light rail in 2022, the entrance to Gwanaksan will be reborn as Euddeum Park. With 8 billion KRW in city funds, the old rest area will be renovated, and the existing parking lot will be transformed into a meeting plaza and outdoor performance hall, creating a complex cultural space for hikers and local residents, and establishing a landmark park for Gwanak-gu.
Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “We will do our best to create healing spaces where citizens exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic can feel and breathe the green forest and clear water in the city,” and added, “We will continue to carry out various projects to improve the quality of life and happiness index of residents.”
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