Gwangju City Launches Full-Scale Project to Establish Water Circulation Leading City

Establishment of Low Impact Development Rainwater Infiltration Facilities in Sangmu District Area by 2022

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 16th that it will officially launch the "Water Circulation Leading City Creation Project," a leading project of the Gwangju-type Green New Deal, starting from the 17th.

The Water Circulation Leading City Creation Project is an eco-friendly Green New Deal project that aims to restore water circulation functions such as natural infiltration of rainwater and reduce stormwater runoff and non-point pollution sources by applying various Low Impact Development (LID) techniques to the Sangmu district, where impervious surfaces are widely distributed due to urbanization, with a total project cost of 29.5 billion KRW, including 70% national funding, by 2022.

Vegetation retention areas, plant cultivation pots, and tree filter boxes will be installed around street trees on existing public roads in harmony with site conditions and surrounding landscapes, and various permeable pavements such as fully permeable blocks, water collection blocks, storage blocks, and grass blocks will be installed on sidewalks, bicycle paths, and parking lots.

In particular, Sangmu Jungang-ro will be developed as a water circulation specialized street, where large-scale vegetation retention areas and plant cultivation pots harmonized with the surrounding environment will connect green spaces, and eco-friendly clay joint blocks will be applied to bicycle paths, which is expected to have a significant landscape improvement effect.

Additionally, facilities will be placed in buildings, parking lots, and parks of seven public institutions frequently visited by citizens, including the Western Police Station and Kim Dae-jung Convention Center, focusing on improving citizen accessibility and project promotion effects.

Upon completion of the project, the impervious surface area in the Sangmu district will decrease from 91% to 59%, stormwater runoff will reduce from 85% to 32%, and groundwater will increase from 4% to 57%, greatly enhancing the health of the water circulation structure. Furthermore, it is expected to improve the water quality of Gwangju Stream by reducing non-point pollutants.

Since being selected as a pilot site for the Ministry of Environment's "Water Circulation Leading City Creation Project" in May 2016, Gwangju City has been laying the foundation for a water circulation leading city through the operation of the Water Circulation Committee, pre-consultation systems for Low Impact Development, and support projects for installing rainwater storage tanks.

In 2018, Gwangju established a basic water circulation management plan to improve the water management system across the city and completed the basic and detailed designs for the Sangmu district pilot project through various administrative procedures and expert opinions.

Song Jin-nam, head of the Water Circulation Policy Division of the city, said, "The Water Circulation Leading City Creation Project is not only a water environment improvement project that has natural disaster prevention functions such as drought, heat island phenomenon, and floods caused by climate change, but also a project with multiple benefits including river water quality improvement and urban landscape enhancement. Since the project area is in the downtown area, construction may cause some inconvenience to traffic and passage, so we ask for citizens' understanding and cooperation."

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