Hwaseong-si to Drastically Change the Appearance of Major Dongtan Parks Including Dongtan Yeoul Park

'Botanic Garden Hwaseong' Eastern Region Public Garden Design Competition
Targeting 1.47 million㎡ across 4 key parks and a 7.9 km connecting belt

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi-do is undertaking the renewal of major parks within Dongtan New Town to create the 'Botanic Garden Hwaseong.'

As part of establishing the eastern region base for 'Botanic Garden Hwaseong,' Hwaseong City announced that it will accept registrations for participation in the 'Eastern Region Public Garden Design Competition' from the 6th of this month until July 5th.

The design competition targets four key parks in the Dongtan New Town area?Yeoul Park (320,000㎡), Nojak Park (743,640㎡), Keunjaebong Park (294,969㎡), and Jaramae Park (120,000㎡)?totaling 1,478,000㎡, along with a 7.9 km garden belt connecting them. These areas were created during large-scale development projects such as new towns and currently feature green spaces with typical facilities, landscapes, density, and low distinctiveness. The city explained that improvements are needed to better reflect citizens' demands.

The city plans to strengthen the amenities of major key parks including Yeoul Park and transform them into symbolic modern garden models by incorporating recent trends in garden elements and developing them into large-scale public gardens.

The competition is conducted under the theme of "creating public gardens that combine exhibition, viewing, experience, and educational programs centered on plants." The core objective is to create exhibition-themed gardens and sculptural facilities with rest and landscape functions that harmoniously blend natural and artificial elements, considering the characteristics of mountain (san), water (su), and urban parks, thereby establishing distinctive local landmarks.

The city will accept submissions from registered participants until January 14 of next year. Detailed information on eligibility, registration methods, and judging procedures can be found in the bidding announcement section on the Hwaseong City website.

Submitted works will be evaluated by a five-member judging panel through first and second rounds of review to select the winning design. The winner will receive the basic and detailed design rights valued at approximately 1.54 billion KRW. Prize money totaling 100 million KRW will be awarded differentially to the winning teams.

Jung Myung-geun, Mayor of Hwaseong City, stated, "The eastern public garden project, along with the Yeoul Park exhibition greenhouse, forms a major pillar in establishing the eastern Botanic Garden. We hope that many will show active interest and participate in this design competition as Hwaseong City takes a step forward as an eco-friendly ecological and cultural city."