By 2050, 1,000 'Urban Forests' to be Established in Daejeon

Urban green space transformed into a city forest. Photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] By 2050, 1,000 urban forests are planned to be established in Daejeon.

On the 2nd, the Daejeon city government announced that it plans to create more than 1,000 urban forests within living areas by 2050, investing 415 billion KRW in the project.

With the increasing severity of climate change and the international paradigm of carbon neutrality, the city aims to significantly expand forests, which serve as carbon sinks, within the urban area.

The city’s plan focuses on expanding various green spaces of different sizes such as parks, green areas, street trees, and gardens within a 10-minute living radius close to citizens' daily lives, as well as building and restoring green infrastructure on the outskirts of the city and preserving and managing existing urban forests.

In particular, the city intends to actively utilize potential spaces such as underserved park and green areas in the old downtown, urban decline areas, and urban regeneration districts to reduce regional disparities in park and green areas and expand the scope of green welfare.

The main types of projects include ▲‘Climate Response Forests’ that reduce pollutants and provide a pleasant environment ▲‘Living Garden Forests’ that serve as resting and communication spaces for citizens ▲‘Premium Street Forests’ for beautiful street landscapes ▲‘Ecological Landscape Forests’ to restore urban ecological functions ▲‘Carbon Offset Forests’ that cultivate forests to promote low-carbon green growth ▲and ‘Citizen Participation Forests’ to spread tree-planting culture.

Additionally, the city plans to complete the urban wind path forest, which has been underway since 2019, this year and continue existing projects such as street tree planting, rooftop greening, and small parks.

Im Muk, Director of the Environmental Greenery Bureau, said, “We will maximize the various effects of urban forests, which are major carbon sinks, and expand projects centered on living areas and the old downtown so that citizens can easily access them anytime and anywhere. Forests are the most effective means to solve the current climate crisis we face, and we will strive to ensure that focused investment in forests leads to carbon neutrality implementation for future generations.”