536 Gardens Created Last Year, 200 More Than Target
227,000㎡ of Green Space Newly Established Out of a Total 420,000㎡
Goal to Build 1,007 Gardens by 2026
Seoul City created more than 500 gardens across various local areas last year alone. This is the result of the announcement made in March last year of the 'Garden City Seoul' initiative, which set a goal to establish a total of 1,000 'Attraction & Companion Gardens' by 2026. Compared to the first-year target (335 sites), the achievement rate reached 160%.
Seoul City announced on the 14th that following the creation of a total of 536 Attraction & Companion Gardens covering 420,000㎡ from March to December last year, it plans to create more than 500 sites again this year. The goal to establish 1,007 gardens accessible within five minutes after opening by 2026 is expected to be achieved more than a year ahead of schedule.
Among the 536 Attraction & Companion Gardens created last year, 369 sites covering 330,000㎡ were directly funded and developed by Seoul City projects. In response to the Garden City policy, 167 gardens covering 90,000㎡ were created using autonomous district budgets. By district, Gwangjin-gu, home to Ttukseom Hangang Park where the 'Seoul International Garden Expo' was held last year, created the most gardens with 110 sites (including 90 gardens developed within the expo), followed by Seongdong-gu with 40 sites and Mapo-gu with 28 sites. By area, the order was Nowon-gu (48,236㎡), Gwanak-gu (39,467㎡), Gangseo-gu (38,917㎡), and Gwangjin-gu (31,784㎡).
Notably, among the total 536 sites, 156 gardens covering 227,000㎡, accounting for 53.8% of all gardens, were newly created on previously undeveloped spaces such as vacant lots, concrete pavements, and privately owned land requiring compensation. Through the creation of Attraction & Companion Gardens, 10,335 trees, 658,714 shrubs, and 2,714,863 herbaceous plants were planted.
Seoul City is paying attention to the growing necessity of gardens as a response to natural disasters caused by climate change such as heatwaves and heavy rain, as carbon sinks and ecosystem preservation, and as a means for citizens’ emotional and physical healing. In fact, viewing gardens reduces anxiety levels by 20% compared to gray urban environments, and spending time in gardens at least once a week reduces the frequency of stress episodes by 60%.
Lee Su-yeon, Director of the Garden City Bureau of Seoul City, said, "Just as the view of Seoul surrounded by outer mountains was originally a garden, we will steadily implement the Attraction & Companion Gardens project to make every corner of Seoul a garden, so that citizens can enjoy a happy daily life within gardens and visitors to Seoul can fully experience the charm of the city."
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