Gwangju City Completes Official Approval Notice for Implementation Plans of 24 Sunset Regulation Urban Parks

Agreement Signed to Reinvest Excess Proposal Profits into Park Projects

Land Compensation Procedures Underway... Landscaping Projects Begin on Completed Land

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "We Will Create a Restorative and Healing Space Loved by Citizens"

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has completed the official announcement of the implementation plan approval for all 24 long-term unexecuted urban parks ahead of the urban park sunset policy taking effect from the 1st of next month.

Not only did the city prevent urban parks, which serve as the lungs of the city and a resting place for 1.5 million Gwangju citizens, from being deregulated due to the sunset policy, but it also secured the highest park area ratio among local governments.

According to Gwangju City on the 18th, the total urban park area in Gwangju is 19.94 million square meters, and the parks subject to the sunset policy are 25 sites covering about 11 million square meters, accounting for 55% of the total urban park area.

Among these, the city completed the official announcement of the implementation plan approval for 24 long-term unexecuted urban parks, excluding Gwangmok Park which was deregulated in December last year, thereby preventing the automatic expiration of urban parks due to the sunset policy effective from July.

For financial parks, among 15 sites including Yeongsangang Daesang, Wolsan, Usan, Balsan, Sinchon, Hakdong, Bangnim, Bongju, Yangsan, Hwangryonggang Daesang, Bonchon, Sinyong (Yangsan), Hwajeong, Uncheon, and Songjeong, covering 2.62 million square meters, 660,000 square meters will be deregulated, and the remaining 1.95 million square meters (including 580,000 square meters already developed) will be developed as parks. The city plans to purchase 980,000 square meters of private land.

Additionally, the city plans to invest 352.3 billion KRW of municipal funds annually by 2023. Following an investment of 35.1 billion KRW from 2017 to 2019, a budget of 48.6 billion KRW has been allocated this year, and 200,000 square meters of private land have been purchased to date.

The private park special project includes 9 sites and 10 districts?Maruk, Suryang, Songam, Bongsan, Jungang 1 & 2, Jungoe, Ilgok, Unamsan, and Sinyong (Unam)?covering 7.86 million square meters. Of this, 760,000 square meters (9.7%) will be developed as non-park facilities (apartments), and 7.1 million square meters will be developed as parks.

Meanwhile, the private park special project in Gwangju has a non-park facility area ratio (apartment construction area within parks) of 9.7%, which is significantly lower than the national average of about 21% excluding Gwangju, and is the lowest among local governments nationwide.

Furthermore, to guarantee the project performance of private developers, an additional performance guarantee deposit equivalent to 10% of the land compensation deposit has been set as collateral.

After project completion, if the proposer earns profits exceeding the initially proposed amount following a settlement by a professional institution, the excess profits will be reinvested in park projects, as stipulated in the agreement.

The direction was set through public-private governance advisory groups composed of civic organizations, experts, and city council members, as well as reviews by the Urban Park and Urban Planning Committees.

In particular, despite many difficulties such as the low ratio of non-park facility area compared to other cities and provinces, tight physical timelines due to environmental impact assessments and agreement signings, the environmental impact assessments were proactively prepared by the project implementers to shorten the time, enabling the implementation plan approval announcement to be completed within the designated period through meticulous project promotion.

For these reasons, Gwangju’s private park special project is evaluated as the most exemplary case nationwide, to the extent that many local governments benchmark it in terms of park area secured, project sustainability, excessive profit recovery, and project promotion system.

The city plans to proceed with land compensation procedures according to laws and regulations and sequentially install park facilities such as tree planting and pergolas on compensated land to create a pleasant park environment, making it a space that enhances citizens’ health, recreation, and emotional life.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Despite tight schedules and limited resources, we have completed the official announcement of the implementation plan approval for all 24 long-term unexecuted urban parks with the support of citizens,” adding, “We will develop the urban parks into the best urban parks so that they can be beloved resting and healing spaces for citizens.”

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