Seoul City and Mercedes-Benz Collaborate to Create 'GreenPlus Urban Forest'

Seoul City-Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee-Children and Future Foundation Sign Business Agreement

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Green Plus Urban Forest Project with the Mercedes-Benz Social Contribution Committee and the Children and Future Foundation, a social welfare corporation, on the 28th to respond to the climate crisis.

The Green Plus Urban Forest Project is a business that creates "urban forests" by planting various trees in damaged or neglected green spaces within Seoul. This year, a total of 300 million KRW will be invested to create urban forests and parks at four target sites, and new sites will be selected annually.

Seoul City will present the basic direction related to the Green Plus Urban Forest Project and provide administrative support, including consultations with related organizations. Mercedes-Benz will provide overall project management, financial support, and post-management support through employee participation, while the Children and Future Foundation will promote the urban forest creation project, including project execution, design, and construction.

This year's project sites include Cheonwang Neighborhood Park in Guro-gu and, for the first time among local governments nationwide, four sites including Maljukgeori, Seoripul, and Myeongil Urban Natural Park Zones, which are acquired through negotiated purchase via public contest. In the first half of the year, after compensating for about 2,000㎡ of private land within Cheonwang Neighborhood Park in Guro-gu that has not been developed, the opinions of local residents will be collected to plant various trees that harmonize with the surrounding environment and restore the naturalness of the urban forest, transforming it into a community-oriented park, with completion targeted within the first half. In the second half, the forest trail (walking path) will be improved by planting trees around the trail and maintaining facilities.

Next year's project sites will be selected by reviewing areas with high greening effects and high citizen usage, such as ▲undeveloped park land among lands purchased to prevent the expiration of long-term unexecuted urban parks ▲forest trails (walking paths) acquired through negotiated purchase via public contest ▲damaged areas such as forests, rivers, and parks.

Yoo Young-bong, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Green City Bureau, said, "This MOU has great significance in creating eco-friendly urban forests and community-oriented parks in Seoul through cooperation with companies," adding, "We plan to continuously promote the creation of urban forests so that citizens can live in comfortable and beautiful spaces."

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