10-Year Statutory Plan for Park Green Space Policy Direction Reviewed by Urban Planning Committee
Intensive Expansion of Three-Dimensional Parks and Open Green Spaces During Urban Development
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has set a goal to increase the park green space ratio to 31.2% by 2040. The plan is to intensively expand park green spaces during urban development by utilizing three-dimensional parks and open green spaces.
On the 6th, Seoul announced that it conditionally approved the draft of the 2040 Seoul Park Green Space Master Plan at the 1st Urban Planning Committee meeting.
The Park Green Space Master Plan is a statutory plan that comprehensively presents directions for the expansion, management, and use of urban parks and green spaces every 10 years, according to Article 5 of the Act on Urban Parks and Green Spaces. This new plan was established 10 years after the announcement of the 2015-2030 Park Green Space Master Plan.
This master plan aligns with the '2040 Seoul Urban Basic Plan' and features the vision of 'Seoul, a Garden City Leading Proactively in Response to the Climate Crisis,' incorporating various projects and policy directions.
The city set a target to achieve a park green space ratio of 31.2% by 2040, aiming to strengthen the functions of park green spaces for climate change and disaster prevention. It also set a target carbon absorption amount of 220,000 tCO2eq, which is 8.8% higher than the current carbon absorption of Seoul’s park green spaces.
The master plan establishes three goals: △Green Recovery △Green Filling △Green Use. It reflects various social and environmental changes and demands, such as demographic changes including low birth rates, aging population, and increase in single-person households, climate change response, qualitative improvement of parks, securing leisure spaces, and the development of smart technologies.
The plan diversifies park types, including three-dimensional parks, and incorporates diverse demands for park green spaces from children, the elderly, people with disabilities, as well as households with companion animals into the basic park plan. It also prepares a strategy to differentiate and create landmarks for each park.
The city actively incorporates the open green space system, which can secure both high-density development and green space expansion in the urban center, and designates ‘priority greening districts’ for areas requiring concentrated greening to strategically implement greening projects. It also enhances disaster prevention functions to actively respond to various urban disasters such as heavy rain and landslides caused by the climate crisis.
Compared to the 2030 master plan, which focused on resolving green space imbalances between regions, the 2040 Seoul Park Green Space Master Plan differs in that it will shift to providing dense park green space services at the 'living zone unit.' It also marks progress by aiming for 'qualitative improvement of green spaces' rather than quantitative expansion of park areas. The plan emphasizes a three-dimensional approach considering green networks and facility integration, moving away from a flat plan.
The city plans to finalize and announce the master plan after reflecting the opinions of the Urban Planning Committee members.
Lee Su-yeon, Director of the Garden City Bureau of Seoul, said, "Through 'Seoul, a Garden City Leading Proactively in Response to the Climate Crisis,' which transforms the entire city into a green-centered paradigm by improving park green spaces in living zones not only quantitatively but also three-dimensionally and qualitatively, we will strive to give Seoul a competitive edge among global cities."
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