Busan City Creates 23 Eco-Friendly Rest Areas 'Smart Garden'

Garden Combining Air-Purifying Plants and Automatic Watering System

Applications from Companies and Institutions, Free Design and Construction Provided

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Busan City will invest 830 million KRW this year to create smart gardens at 23 multi-use facilities throughout Busan.

After the establishment of Busan Citizens Park Visitor Center. (2021)

Smart gardens are a new type of garden that combines indoor air-purifying plants with an automatic watering system, allowing people to enjoy a four-season garden indoors. Since 2021, this project has been promoted as a national forest service subsidy program to improve the residential environment for citizens who spend their daily lives indoors, as well as to promote mental and physical healing and reduce fine dust.

The target locations for creation are multi-use facilities such as industrial complexes and public facilities within Busan city. This year, the scope has been expanded to include educational counseling facilities and social welfare facilities that require the healing effects of plants.

Companies (institutions) wishing to install smart gardens can submit an application to Busan City on the condition that they maintain and manage the garden for the next five years. The city (district/county) will consult with the respective company (institution) and provide free design and construction of the smart garden.

The city plans to create smart gardens in various forms such as wall-type, mixed-type, and cube-type according to the characteristics of the installation space.

According to a recent study by Hankyong National University verifying the effectiveness of smart garden use, creating a smart garden reduces brain blood flow by more than twice (153%), relieving fatigue, and lowers blood pressure, which alleviates physical tension and stress.

Additionally, the study analyzed that sympathetic nerves decrease and parasympathetic nerves increase, reducing daily stress; fatigue and depression decrease by more than 50%, and motivation and vitality increase by more than 100%, showing various positive effects.

Lee Geun-hee, Director of the Environmental Policy Office of the city, said, “Smart gardens are eco-friendly indoor resting spaces that greatly help urban residents’ health, healing, and emotions.” He added, “The city will create 20 smart gardens annually until 2025 to realize ‘Busan, an eco-friendly city where people want to live.’”