Expansion of Fine Dust Blocking Forests, City of Ten Million Roses
Railroad Forest, POSCO-daero Forest Path, River Restoration, Green Walkways
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City is promoting the Greenway project under the slogan of ‘Filling + Connecting + Sharing Greenways’ to create a green city that all citizens can feel this year. The project aims to ‘fill’ daily life with forests and gardens, ‘connect’ the city, nature, and people, and ‘share’ a sustainable green culture with citizens.
The city plans to create a pleasant residential environment through forests and gardens within living areas and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by expanding large-scale green spaces in the era of climate crisis.
It will expand the creation of dust-blocking forests around industrial complexes to reduce fine dust inflow into residential areas, and enlarge living forests that citizens can feel, such as barrier-free urban forests for vulnerable pedestrians and child-safe green forests on elementary school commuting routes.
Along with this, the city will continue the Ten Million Roses City project and create permanent gardens and streets with various seasonal flowers on Hyeongsan Big Bridge, Yeonil Bridge, and major traffic islands with heavy traffic, aiming to fill daily life with forests and gardens.
The city plans to reorganize the urban area centered on the environment and pedestrian pathways by connecting the entire city with lush forest trails and waterways to provide more healing spaces for citizens.
Through the construction of the railway forest symbiotic forest trail pedestrian bridge, restoration of Haksan Stream, and creation of a pedestrian-centered street on Posco-daero, the city aims to establish a circular greenway where Pohang Railway Forest and Hyeongsan River meet. In particular, it plans to reduce cars on Posco-daero, which crosses the city east to west, and increase gardens and green spaces to create a street centered on people and nature.
Additionally, by organically connecting the linear railway forest and street greenery, the city will build a green pedestrian network where residential areas, government offices, schools, and parks can be accessed by walking along forest trails. With the creation of waterfront spaces such as Heunghae Seorimji and Yanghak Yeondang, and the full opening of the coastal trail (Songra to Janggi, 112 km), a walking travel-centered tourism platform is expected to be completed.
The city holds the policy that creating a good environment requires not only green infrastructure led by government offices but also a green culture in which citizens actively participate. It plans to expand participatory content that allows any citizen who loves flowers, trees, and nature to voluntarily express opinions and form consensus to transform Pohang.
To this end, the city will expand the Green Alley Maintenance Support Project, where residents join forces to care for their villages, enhance barefoot walking infrastructure for citizen health promotion, and activate cultural content using urban forests such as humanities talk concerts and garden academies.
Furthermore, reflecting the opinions of local youth, the city plans to share generational cultural activities by creating a children’s water playground, media facade, and cultural content spaces utilizing retired train cars.
Mayor Kangdeok Lee said, “Pohang City is achieving remarkable results in ecological city development, marine tourism, and urban regeneration through the Greenway project, bringing about a major transformation in the urban environment. We will continue to expand the Greenway project and do our best to create a pleasant residential environment that all citizens can feel.”
The Greenway project is a green infrastructure expansion strategy that Pohang City has been promoting since 2016 to transform into a sustainable ecological cultural city with the value of ‘citizen-centeredness.’ It involves collaboration among 13 departments focusing on three main axes: the city center, coast, and forest, carrying out various projects.
In particular, after the completion of the Pohang Railway Forest, the flagship project of the Greenway project, it has created a new urban culture through various intangible values such as improving the city image, spreading walking culture, and promoting citizen health.
Based on these achievements, last year Pohang Railway Forest was recognized with the ‘Green Flag Award’ certification by the UK’s KBT, the ‘Asia Urban Landscape Award’ hosted by UN-Habitat, and as a representative ‘Model Urban Forest’ by the Korea Forest Service.
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