Gwangju Nam-gu, Creation of 'Wind Path Forest' from Hyochon 1 District to Seo-gu Boundary

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Nam-gu, Gwangju, is creating a wind path forest that connects the outskirts forest of the city and scattered forests in the urban area in the Hyochon 1 District to bring in cool air.

On the 26th, Nam-gu announced, "We will actively promote a project to create a 2.2 km wind path forest from Imjeonggyo in Hyochon 1 District to the boundary of Seo-gu by investing 500 million KRW."

The wind path forest is a forest that uses the pressure difference between day and night to introduce clear and cold air into the city, inducing air circulation and discharging air pollutants such as fine dust.

This ecological system has been introduced by local governments in Korea, including Hong Kong and Osaka, Japan, after the case of Stuttgart, Germany, where air pollution was resolved through wind path creation since the 1970s due to severe stagnation of air pollutants caused by the basin-shaped terrain structure.

Nam-gu plans to create a connecting forest that maintains the flow of wind centered on the street trees and buffer green spaces along Hyochon-ro, connected from Hyochon 1 District to Maewol-dong in Seo-gu, by September.

Currently, on both sides of Hyochon-ro, a passage about 5 meters wide, combining a 3.5-meter pedestrian path and a 1.5-meter bicycle road, has been created, and on both sides of the passage, sparsely planted trees and buffer green spaces have been established.

Nam-gu plans to cultivate the area into a forest form where gentle breezes can flow in by planting various trees on both sides of the passage.

The newly planted trees will include 21,000 trees of seven species such as Honggasi (Daphniphyllum macropodum), Euonymus japonicus, Emerald Green, and Golden Euonymus, based on the tree species recommended by the Korea Forest Service for fine dust reduction and the vegetation status analysis data of the Gwangju area.

A Nam-gu official stated, "We will successfully complete the wind path forest creation project to make a green Nam-gu where clear air and forests harmonize."

Meanwhile, last year, Nam-gu invested 830 million KRW to create a fine dust blocking forest between the apartment complex in Hyochon 1 District and Hyochon Station, and promoted the first phase of the wind path forest creation project in part of Hyochon-ro towards Imjeong Village.