Gwangju City Accelerates Development of Long-Unexecuted Urban Parks

Designation of Project Implementers Completed for 9 Private Park Special Project Parks and 10 Districts

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is accelerating the creation of long-unexecuted urban parks by completing the designation of implementers for private park special projects ahead of the urban park sunset system implementation on July 1, and by completing the approval of implementation plans for 11 out of 15 financial parks.

On the 13th, the city announced that it had completed the designation of implementers for 10 project districts in 9 parks where the private park special project is being implemented, with the designation for Jungoe Park finalized.

Additionally, for the financial parks created with city funds, the city has completed the announcement of implementation plan approvals for 11 out of 15 parks, and is proceeding with related administrative procedures for the remaining 4 parks to obtain implementation plan approval.

Gwangju’s long-unexecuted urban parks total 25 locations, among which the private park special project targets are 9 parks and 10 project districts: Surang, Mareuk, Bongsan, Songam, Ilgok, Unamsan, Sinyong (Unam), Jungoe, and Jungang (Districts 1 and 2).

The financial parks include 15 parks: Wolsan, Balsan, Usan, Sinchon, Hakdong, Bangnim, Bongju, Yangsan, Bonchon, Sinyong (Yangsan), Hwangryonggang Target, Yeongsangang Target, Songjeong, Hwajeong, and Uncheon. One park, Gwangmok Park, which is difficult to use for other purposes even if released from park designation, was released last December.

The city has especially focused on securing public interest while promoting the private park special project and has also secured safety measures to prevent the project from failing midway.

The main features of Gwangju’s private park special project are: ▲The non-park facility area (apartment construction area within the park) is about 21% on average nationwide excluding Gwangju, but Gwangju’s rate is 9.7%, the lowest in the country; ▲To guarantee the private developer’s project performance, an additional collateral equivalent to 10% of the land compensation deposit is set as a performance guarantee deposit; ▲After project completion, if the professional institution’s settlement shows that the proposer’s actual profit exceeds the initially proposed profit, the excess profit is reinvested in park projects through an agreement; ▲A public-private governance composed of civic groups, experts, and city council members was formed to set directions for the 25 long-unexecuted parks.

The second, third, and fourth features were first implemented nationwide by Gwangju, and some local governments are currently benchmarking Gwangju and implementing similar measures.

Since the private park special project implementers have been designated, the city plans to complete ongoing administrative procedures such as environmental, disaster, and traffic impact assessments, apply for implementation plan approval before April, and complete the announcement of implementation plan approval by June.

Separately from the implementation plan approval, the project implementers will proceed with all procedures related to land compensation.

Currently, to ensure speed and objectivity in compensation work, the city has signed consignment agreements with land compensation specialized institutions (such as the Korea Appraisal Board). Procedures such as land and property surveys, formation and operation of compensation councils, appraisal, and negotiated compensation are conducted accordingly.

Also, the financial parks created with city funds will have a project budget of 261.3 billion KRW invested to complete park creation projects by 2023.

Currently, appraisal and negotiated compensation are being conducted for each parcel of the 15 parks, but for the 11 parks with completed implementation plan approval announcements, appraisals will be conducted for each park to complete compensation by 2022 and then proceed with park creation during the remaining period.

Furthermore, for the remaining 4 financial parks, the city plans to complete the announcement of implementation plan approval before the sunset system deadline after conducting various impact assessments, consultations with related agencies, and collecting residents’ opinions.

Currently, if landowners of each parcel wish to receive compensation, negotiated compensation is conducted after appraisal for each parcel.

Jung Dae-kyung, Director of the Parks and Greenery Division, said, “Since the long-unexecuted urban park creation project has a fixed deadline, we will do our best to prevent any leakage during the process, protect the parks as much as possible, and create parks that reflect the unique characteristics of each park to return them to the citizens.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.