Creating a Garden in an Alley with Illegal Trash Dumping... Namdong-gu, Incheon, Residents Design and Manage It

The alleyway scene ahead of the creation of a community participation garden
[Photo provided by Namdong-gu, Incheon]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Namdong-gu, Incheon, is creating beautiful gardens in alleys that were neglected as illegal dumping sites or high-crime areas through proactive participation of residents.

The district announced on the 8th that it will establish resident-participation gardens at four locations this month through a resident participation garden cultivation project.

The resident participation gardens were introduced for the first time this year with the purposes of preventing illegal dumping, crime prevention, and improving the alley aesthetics. Moving away from government-led initiatives, residents take the lead in the entire process from planning and designing to creating the gardens, and they are also responsible for maintaining the established gardens.

Last month, through a public contest, the district finally selected four sites: ▲Cheongwa Villa Flower Garden (Guwol-dong 4-92) ▲European Garden (Mansu-ro 75beon-gil 85) ▲Clean Garden Cultivation (Mansu-dong 111-205) ▲Hyupsin Villa Garden Making (Namchon-dong 325-8).

These locations were chosen because they were either poorly managed due to habitual illegal dumping or lacked natural scenery. The district considered necessity, public interest, and voluntary resident participation during the evaluation.

The district recently provided education for applicants on garden creation and plans to supply necessary garden materials such as annual flowers, shrubs, landscaping stones, and landscaping wood.

The gardens will be directly maintained by local residents, and the district plans to continuously monitor their condition until November.

Lee Kang-ho, Mayor of Namdong-gu, said, "Resident participation gardens may lack some expertise, but it is meaningful that neighborhood residents who have understanding and affection for the area create them themselves. We will carefully monitor resident satisfaction and continue to promote the project."

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