Seoul City and Korea Forest Service Create First 'Living Garden' at Mapo District Office... Completion by End of December

Plant Interior Using Plants Such as 'Green Wall' Throughout Basement 1 to Lobby and 4th Floor of Mapo-gu Office Building

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The interior of Mapo-gu Office, once monotonously gray, will be transformed into green walls filled with lush plants. The barren Myeonmok Retention Basin Rest Area in Jungnang-gu will be reborn as a distinctive garden featuring nature-friendly design.

On the 17th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will create 'Living Gardens' by turning indoor and outdoor idle spaces in public facilities green, so that citizens can encounter gardens wherever they go.

The goal is to relieve and heal citizens' stress with evergreen indoor gardens throughout the four seasons and to contribute to solving environmental issues such as fine dust reduction with outdoor gardens. The 'Living Gardens' are gardens established under the 'Arboretum and Garden Act,' starting this year with two locations: Mapo-gu Office (indoor garden) and Myeonmok Retention Basin Rest Area in Jungnang-gu (outdoor garden), with plans to gradually expand the project.

At Mapo-gu Office, an indoor garden covering 1,300㎡ will be created from the basement level 1 to the lobby and on the 4th floor. The interior will be decorated with plants using 'Planterior'?an interior design concept incorporating greenery such as green walls planted on building walls and columns. A green wall comparable in scale to that of Seoul City Hall (1,500㎡) is expected to attract attention. A total of 1 billion KRW will be invested.

Since Mapo-gu Office houses a library and swimming pool, attracting many citizens, it is expected to effectively serve as a 'Living Garden' in daily life.

An outdoor garden will be established at the 5,000㎡ Myeonmok Retention Basin Rest Area. A professional landscape artist will be selected to design a nature-friendly garden distinct from existing parks, creating a high-quality living garden favored by citizens. The entire project, costing 500 million KRW, will be funded by the national government and directly implemented by the Korea Arboretum Management Institute, an agency under the Korea Forest Service.

The 'Living Gardens' at Mapo-gu Office and Myeonmok Retention Basin Rest Area in Jungnang-gu are scheduled to be completed by the end of December. The city plans to continuously create and expand 'Living Gardens,' starting with these two locations.

Choi Yoon-jong, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Green City Bureau, said, “Starting with two sites, Mapo-gu Office and Myeonmok Retention Basin, we will spare no effort in various policy measures to continuously create and expand living gardens. Through living gardens, we hope citizens will encounter and enjoy gardens wherever they go, improving their quality of life and spreading garden culture.”

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