Guro-gu Onsu Neighborhood Park Transformed into Climate-Responsive Urban Forest

Utilizing Idle Land in Parks... Providing a Pleasant Park Environment and Mitigating Urban Heat Islands

Guro-gu (District Mayor Moon Heon-il) has completed the creation of a climate-resilient urban forest in Onsu Neighborhood Park (Munhak District), which had been a long-term unexecuted park.

The climate-resilient urban forest project involves establishing forests within residential areas and surrounding urban regions to respond to the climate crisis, providing benefits such as mitigating urban heat islands and reducing fine dust.

Onsu Neighborhood Park had been a long-term unexecuted park, with some areas left as vacant lots, causing inconvenience for residents using the space.

In response, the district established a plan in January last year to redevelop the damaged and neglected area into a park, and completed construction last month with a budget of 650 million KRW from national and city funds.

The district created a lawn plaza and rose garden for park users in the area that had remained idle for a long time, planting 285 large trees including Zelkova and wild cherry trees, and 18,270 shrubs such as Spiraea and mountain azaleas to improve the landscape.

A barefoot walking trail, which had been highly requested by residents, was also constructed.

Additionally, the district plans to link the first phase of the ‘Onsu Neighborhood Park (Munhak District) Park Creation Project’ that began construction last November with the second phase scheduled for 2024, to install rest areas, exercise facilities, and playground equipment.

A Guro-gu official said, “As the park has become brighter and more pleasant, we hope it will be widely used as a relaxing space that revitalizes residents’ lives. We will continue to carefully manage the park to ensure residents can use it safely and comfortably.”