Gwangyang City Achieves Top 10 Urban Greening Achievements in 2022

Opening the Era of Inspiration in Gwangyang through Climate-Responsive Urban Greening in Residential Areas

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik] Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do announced the selection of the top 10 major achievements in urban greening for the year 2022, marking the beginning of the 8th term of the elected government.

This year, the city invested 10.8 billion KRW in green infrastructure projects such as fine dust blocking forests, lifestyle-oriented forests, child-safe green forests, scenic green spaces with cherry blossom paths, and premium street forests to realize carbon neutrality in response to the government's "2050 Carbon Neutrality Declaration" and to improve the residential environment in urban living areas.

By expanding urban forests, which serve as carbon sinks, the city aims to provide a pleasant living environment that supports citizens' healthy lives by reducing fine dust and mitigating urban heat island effects. Additionally, it plans to strengthen the functions of urban forests both inside and outside the city and connect dispersed green spaces to establish a systematic foundation for responding to the climate crisis.

▲ Secured 18.5 billion KRW in national and local government budget for urban greening in 2023, the largest ever

Gwangyang City actively pursued budget acquisition from central government ministries through discovering new projects and participating in national and local government budget competitions to expand green infrastructure and create a sustainable human city. As a result, it secured 18.5 billion KRW for urban greening in 2023, the largest budget ever, which is more than three times the 5.8 billion KRW allocated in the 2022 main budget.

Main projects include ▲ Urban wind path forest creation (9 billion KRW) ▲ Climate response urban forest creation (7 billion KRW) ▲ Child-safe green forest (700 million KRW) ▲ Lifestyle-oriented forest creation (500 million KRW) ▲ Premium street forest creation (400 million KRW) ▲ Urban forest creation (400 million KRW) ▲ Community garden creation (300 million KRW) ▲ Resident participation forest creation (200 million KRW).

The city expects to secure momentum for opening the "Era of Impression, Warm Gwangyang" during the 8th term by creating various forests in urban living areas.

▲ Selected as the best in the fine dust blocking forest category in the 2022 Green City Best Practices nationwide competition, ranked first in the country

Gwangyang City’s fine dust blocking forest on the abandoned railway was selected as the best nationwide in the "Blocking Forest" category of the 2022 Green City Best Practices competition held by the Korea Forest Service, earning institutional commendation. This follows the city’s consecutive honors, including the best award for school forest creation in 2021.

The fine dust blocking forest on the abandoned railway spans a 4.0 km section from the boundary with Suncheon along the Gyeongjeon Line abandoned railway site in Gwangyang-eup to Yudang Park, where the natural monument No. 235, Gwangyang-eupsu and Ipop trees, are located.

After the railway was abandoned in July 2016 and left unattended for a long time, significantly harming the cityscape, traditional tree species such as Ipop trees and hackberry trees distributed within Yudang Park were planted to create an atmosphere of blocking forest and traditional forest.

It also received favorable evaluations for securing various cultural and ecological spaces connected to Yudang Park, the Provincial Art Museum, Gwangyang Seocheon, the Driver’s License Examination Office, and a complex shopping center, as well as for establishing east-west green corridors.

Going forward, the city plans to focus administrative efforts on creating an environment where citizens can live safely from social hazards, ensuring that urban and street forests continue to be recognized as exemplary green city cases and that Gwangyang becomes a model certified green city.

▲ Creation of fine dust blocking forest

Gwangyang City created a 4-hectare forest along Baegun-ro and Cheongam-ro in the Wau residential district with a budget of 4 billion KRW to prevent fine dust and air pollutants from the Gwangyang Bay Industrial Complex from entering and spreading into the Jungmadong living area.

In particular, through expert consulting, the linear green areas along the main roads were planted with landscaping trees that have a high fine dust blocking effect to enhance project effectiveness. The scenic green space in the Wau district was designed with walking paths and pavilions to add recreational aspects for citizens.

For Sunshine Beach Park, the forest was created with beautiful-shaped hackberry trees and flowers, considering the local characteristics and emphasizing citizen empathy.

The fine dust blocking forest will be transformed into a climate response urban forest in the future, serving functions not only to block fine dust but also to achieve carbon neutrality, carbon storage, and carbon offsetting.

▲ Creation of a cherry blossom path along Seonghwangcheon Stream for walking

Gwangyang City, in connection with the Seonghwang and Doiji district urban development projects, created a 1.3 km walking path along the scenic green space by Seonghwangcheon Stream and established a cherry blossom path to provide exercise and rest spaces for residents of nearby apartments and offer new attractions.

The cherry blossom path was created based on suggestions from about 1,000 citizens, planting 260 king cherry trees, forsythia, azaleas, liriope, and other flowers to establish a cherry blossom attraction and a waterfront space where citizens can feel the seasonal changes and take pride. Convenience facilities such as walking paths, benches, and security lights for safety were also installed.

▲ Creation of lifestyle-oriented outdoor garden

Gwangyang City invested 500 million KRW of national funds to create a lifestyle-oriented outdoor garden in the citizen plaza in front of City Hall, including a pond, fountain, and lawn park, contributing to the spread of garden culture in daily life.

The lifestyle-oriented forest garden project aims to expand green living spaces in residents’ daily lives, focusing on living areas and multi-use facilities by creating various forms of gardens such as rooftop gardens, indoor gardens, and outdoor gardens, as well as themed gardens.

Citizen gardeners were trained through theory and practice in garden planting theory, design, and planning, and then participated directly in the garden creation.

▲ Creation of Baegunje scenic forest as part of ‘Making Jeonnam in the Forest’

The city invested 500 million KRW to create the Baegunje scenic forest, a resident participation forest, in the Baegunje rural theme park area. The project was proposed and managed by the village chiefs’ council of Bonggang-myeon to expand citizen interest and voluntary participation.

The Baegunje scenic forest is composed of themed areas such as forest walking trails, forest rest areas, Yunsulmaru, and Ginkgo paths, planting 6,028 trees including ginkgo, red bayberry, tricolor willow, and tricolor spirea, blending canopy and shrub trees. Facilities such as observatories, sitting walls, and soil, gravel, and slab pavements were installed for convenient citizen use.

▲ Creation of premium street forest paths

Gwangyang City invested 320 million KRW to create themed premium street forest paths along a 5.6 km section of Provincial Road 865 in Bonggang-myeon and the nationally supported provincial road in Jinsang-myeon to create beautiful street landscapes and strengthen the green network function of street trees.

The premium street forest paths were designed to harmonize with the surrounding environment and to create a three-dimensional effect with tall and small trees.

Along the provincial road in Bonggang-myeon, 218 maple trees and 800 camellia japonica were planted to evoke the feeling of autumn foliage, while along the provincial road in Jinsang-myeon, over 5,500 trees including thorn trees, red bayberry, and golden euonymus were planted in multi-row layered arrangements to provide beautiful street scenery throughout the four seasons.

In particular, in urban areas where tree roots protrude due to street tree growth, causing inconvenience and safety concerns for pedestrians, curb boundary blocks were installed to improve the growing environment of street trees and provide a pleasant walking environment.

▲ Creation of child-safe green forests

Gwangyang City invested 200 million KRW to create child-safe green forests along a 1 km section around Jungdong Elementary School and Jungjin Elementary School in Jungmadong to secure safe school routes for children vulnerable to traffic environments within school zones.

The target area is densely populated with apartment complexes and commercial buildings, with heavy vehicle traffic and pedestrian flow during school commuting times, requiring safe pedestrian access.

The city planted 10,128 landscaping trees such as arborvitae, nandina, and liriope, and 5,760 flowers in various planting styles to stimulate curiosity at children’s eye level, creating a lively atmosphere reflecting seasonal changes to foster emotional development and ecological sensitivity.

Additionally, small spaces around intersections, which were neglected blind spots, were utilized by appropriately arranging flowers and facilities, and trick art was introduced under pedestrian overpass stairs to transform the area into a green resting space, enhancing the urban landscape.

▲ Creation of school forests and smart gardens

Gwangyang City contributed to making Gwangyang a "child-rearing friendly city" by creating a school forest in the outdoor space of Jungang Elementary School in Jungmadong and a smart garden utilizing wall space in the indoor lounge of Donggwangyang Middle School.

After being selected for a 2022 public contest, the city signed agreements with the schools and invested 60 million KRW to adjust the shape and rearrange landscaping trees in poorly managed school forests, install walking paths, and plant 277 landscaping trees and 1,722 flowers to create a nature-friendly learning space.

Furthermore, the city invested 30 million KRW to plant 524 plants with excellent air purification and ornamental effects on the walls of the indoor lounge, installing an automatic watering system, growth lighting, and a smart system controllable remotely via smartphones to create the smart garden.

The smart garden provides a comfortable resting and healing space and contributes to creating a learning atmosphere for students.

▲ Creation of urban wind path forests

Gwangyang City was selected for the Korea Forest Service’s urban wind path forest project in 2021 and is carrying out the project with a budget of 20 billion KRW over four years (one year for design and three years for construction) from 2022 to 2025. This year, basic and detailed design services were undertaken.

The city plans to introduce fresh and clean air generated from forests such as Baegunsan, Gayasan, and Seosan into the urban areas of Gwangyang-eup and Jungmadong to mitigate urban heat island effects and create a pleasant living environment by connecting forests isolated from the urban area and creating wind path forests linked with intermediate diffusion stepping forests, thereby establishing an ecological network for urban and living spaces.

Kim Jaebok, Director of the Greenery Division, said, "To open the slogan of the 8th term, ‘Era of Impression, Warm Gwangyang,’ we are creating various types of urban forests within urban living areas."

He added, "We will continue to expand green spaces that provide rest, healing, and vitality to citizens exhausted physically and mentally by COVID-19, focusing administrative efforts on improving citizens’ quality of life and delivering impressions."

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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