Pohang Cheolgilsup, 'Adding Roads and Forests to the City of Steel'

Asian Urban Landscape Award, Green Landmark 'Pohang Cheolgil Sup'

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] On the 13th, Pohang City attended the domestic award ceremony of the ‘2022 Asian Townscape Awards’ held at the Architectural Space Institute in Sejong Special Self-Governing City and received the grand prize.

The Asian Townscape Awards (ATA) are jointly hosted by the UN-Habitat Asia-Pacific Regional Office and four other organizations, aiming to “build a happy living environment for Asians.” It is an internationally prestigious award given to cities, regions, and projects that have achieved exemplary results serving as models for other cities.

This year, a total of 11 works were selected for the Asian Townscape Awards, and domestically, ‘Pohang Cheolgil Forest,’ Seoul’s ‘Hanok Preservation and Promotion Policy,’ and Busan’s ‘Yeongdo Modern History Trace Map’ were honored with awards.

This event was organized to hold an award ceremony for domestic winners and share excellent cases of local governments, as the ATA international event became uncertain due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Pohang City drew attention by explaining the process of transforming a site used as a railway for over 100 years into an urban forest, creating an urban landscape where nature, culture, and people harmonize, along with the resulting socio-economic ripple effects.

The Cheolgil Forest is a flagship project of Pohang’s people-centered, sustainable, eco-friendly green city policy called the ‘GreenWay Project.’ It is a long linear urban forest stretching 9.3 km from Yuseong Girls’ High School in Uhyun-dong, Buk-gu to the Yugang Water Purification Plant in Yeonil-eup, Nam-gu.

Pohang Cheolgilsup.

About 210,000 people, approximately 43% of Pohang’s population, live within a 15-minute walking distance, making it highly accessible and usable. The nearby deteriorated residential areas have transformed into cafes and restaurants, promoting spontaneous urban regeneration.

In particular, an eco-friendly carbon-neutral citizen culture using walking and bicycles instead of cars has taken root, and it is utilized as a citizen rest area for leisure and walks, proudly standing as ‘Pohang’s Green Landmark.’

Attendees of the ATA award ceremony highly praised the Cheolgil Forest as a major achievement, noting that it has become a central space for cultural and artistic activities involving citizens, with public steel art installations and the creation of new urban landscapes and cultural activities.

Pohang City plans to use this award as an opportunity to build networks with cities showcasing excellent landscape cases domestically and internationally and to continuously discuss future plans for creating and developing a happy living environment for its citizens.

Deputy Mayor Nam-il Kim, who attended the award ceremony, said, “Through the Asian Townscape Award for the Cheolgil Forest, the flagship project of the Pohang GreenWay Project, we can internationally promote its excellence. We will further expand the GreenWay Project to attract future new industries to Pohang and strive to create an attractive residential environment that draws young talents.”

The Pohang Cheolgil Forest has been recognized globally for its outstanding value by receiving a total of 10 prestigious green city and landscape awards both domestically and internationally since 2017, including the UK Green Flag Award certification and selection as a model city forest by the Korea Forest Service.