[Seoul District News] Gwangjin-gu Develops 740m Flower and Autumn Leaf-themed Cornus Specialty Street in Guui; Songpa-gu Creates Eco-friendly Wooden Mural Promoting Basket Use and Plastic Reduction with 70 Hanmi Pharmaceutical Employees' Volunteer Work; Gangdong-gu Expands Gangil-dong 33-3 Garden-style Allotments to 4 Plots for One-day Experience; Yeongdeungpo-gu Tests Han River Inlet Floodgate for Flood Preparedness
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) is creating a special street of Cornus kousa trees along the entire 740m section of Gui-ro.
Currently, the Gui-ro section has a very narrow sidewalk width of 1.5 to 2.1 meters, making it the least pedestrian-friendly area in Gwangjin-gu. Large Magnolia trees occupy half of the sidewalk, causing branches to touch buildings and creating inconvenience for stroller passage and pedestrians. Additionally, the poor growing environment of the street trees has led to continuous problems such as sidewalk damage due to root uplift, trunk decay, occurrence of cankers, and tree death.
In particular, power distribution lines run above the street trees, posing a constant risk of fire and power outages due to contact. To prevent this, periodic pruning has been conducted, which has deformed the trees, detracting from the urban landscape and resulting in insufficient shade for pedestrians.
Moreover, a 2021 study by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation titled “Investigation of the Growth Condition of Street Trees on Gui-ro” revealed that among the 56 Magnolia trees currently planted, 37 showed serious growth problems such as canker occurrence and trunk decay.
Accordingly, starting this month, the district will remove 56 large Magnolia trees on both sides of Gui-ro and replace and additionally plant 116 Cornus kousa trees, a low-height species. Considering the narrow sidewalks and the presence of power lines on site, Cornus kousa was chosen as the most suitable species.
The newly planted Cornus kousa trees bloom from May to June, providing shade, and in autumn, their leaves turn red, offering beautiful foliage to residents.
Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “We will prioritize preventing safety accidents for residents and complete the project quickly before the summer typhoon season. I hope Gui-ro will become a special street of Cornus kousa trees, becoming a distinctive and beautiful street loved by the residents of Gwangjin-gu.”
Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) has created an ECO campaign mural at the ‘Songpa-gu Upcycling Center’ to promote environmental protection and raise awareness about reducing disposable products.
This project was carried out as a social contribution volunteer activity by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, a mid-sized company located in Songpa-gu.
During the 7th local government term, with the vision of ‘Songpa, a global carbon-neutral city where people and nature coexist,’ Songpa-gu established the first carbon-neutral city plan among Seoul’s autonomous districts in 2020. To expand the value and practice of resource circulation, the ‘Songpa-gu Upcycling Center’ was remodeled into a resource circulation culture and experience complex space and reopened in December last year.
The Upcycling Center ECO mural is not a typical paint mural but an eco-friendly mural composed of 141 wooden panels assembled like a puzzle, containing eight environmental protection messages such as using reusable shopping bags and reducing plastic. Seventy Hanmi Pharmaceutical new recruits and employees painted their assigned panels remotely and combined them.
A resident who saw the mural said, “I’m glad to see a meaningful mural expressing the value of resource circulation on the exterior wall of the Upcycling Center. The street looks fresher too.”
Hanmi Pharmaceutical actively contributes to the local community, cooperating with the 2021 road widening project in Gui-ro to facilitate resident passage on the back road in front of its headquarters and announcing plans to create a free photo exhibition space.
Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “To create a carbon-neutral city, the public, private, industry, and academia must all work together. I thank the Hanmi Pharmaceutical employees who participated. We will continue to spread the value of resource circulation and build Songpa as a leading carbon-neutral city in Seoul.”
Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) announced that starting in May, it will expand the ‘One-Day Experience Garden’ by adding more garden-type plots so that any resident can experience gardening on their desired date.
Previously, the district piloted two plots last year, allowing two families per day to experience gardening, resulting in 256 reservations with a 70.1% reservation rate. The reservation rate exceeded 80% during the spring and fall months (May, June, November), which are suitable for outdoor activities, showing high popularity.
Therefore, the district will add two more plots this year, enabling four families per day to participate starting in May.
The One-Day Experience Garden has separate individual spaces with planted crops, allowing participants to harvest crops within designated ranges on specific days. Each participant also has a private gazebo and outdoor table for rest.
Those wishing to use the One-Day Experience Garden in May can make reservations for five days starting April 26 through the ‘Seoul Public Service Reservation’ website. Reservations for the following month are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis during the last five weekdays of each month. The participation fee is 5,000 KRW per day.
Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “I hope the One-Day Experience Garden provides residents with a chance to enjoy nature close to home with their families and to heal their tired minds and bodies, even if only briefly. The district will continue to do its best to offer more residents opportunities to experience gardening.”
For more information, contact the Urban Agriculture Division of Gangdong-gu Office or visit the Gangdong-gu Urban Agriculture Portal site.
Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) announced that on April 21, from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM, it will conduct test operations and inspections of the four floodgates installed around the Han River to prepare for flood damage caused by the rainy season and floods.
The floodgates are flood prevention sluice facilities installed to block water from flooding into the city when the Han River overflows. Normally, they serve as access paths to the Han River Citizen’s Park and are not noticeable, but when heavy rain causes the Han River water level to rise, the floodgates are lowered like shutters to block the inflow of river water.
The district inspects the floodgates’ proper operation every year around April to May before the rainy season and plans to thoroughly prepare for flood disasters through this year’s pre-inspection as well.
The test operation and inspection will be conducted sequentially starting from the Nodeul-gil entrance, then Dangsan entrance, Yeouido entrance, and finally Yangpyeong entrance.
To prevent COVID-19, only minimal personnel including district flood control staff and floodgate manufacturers will be involved. The main inspection items include the operation and management of the hoist (machine that raises or lowers the floodgate), checking the fastening and water-tightness of the floodgate and frame, checking for sediment and foreign substances inside the lower frame, and the operation status of limit switches during floodgate movement.
Since the inspection simulates an actual flood situation of the Han River overflowing, all vehicle and pedestrian traffic will be completely blocked during the inspection.
Traffic will be restricted at the Nodeul-gil, Dangsan, and Yeouido floodgates from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM on the 21st, and at the Yangpyeong floodgate from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM on the same day.
The district plans to minimize citizen inconvenience by conducting inspections outside of rush hours and will cooperate with the Yeongdeungpo Police Station to provide detour routes and traffic guidance.
Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “Due to abnormal weather, accurate weather forecasting has become difficult, making thorough pre-inspections even more necessary. This procedure is to prevent damage to citizens’ property and lives, so we ask for active cooperation in traffic restrictions for vehicles and pedestrians.”
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