Promotion of Designation of 6.65 Million㎡ National Urban Park in Incheon Sorae Wetlands Area

by Park Haesook

Published 29 Mar.2023 12:27(KST)

A plan is underway to designate the Sorae Wetlands area in Incheon as the country's first National Urban Park.

Incheon City announced on the 29th that it plans to have 6.65 million square meters of the Sorae Wetlands Ecological Park area in Nonhyeon-dong, Namdong-gu (including the Ramsar Wetlands) designated as a National Urban Park by 2028.

Through this, the city aims to improve the landscape and clean up the environment around the nearby Yeongdong Expressway, while providing systematic and high-quality park services at the national level.

A National Urban Park is a park designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to protect urban natural landscapes and to enhance citizens' health, recreation, and emotional well-being.

It can be designated when necessary for national commemorative projects, preservation of natural landscapes, and historical and cultural heritage, with a requirement that the urban park site area be at least 3 million square meters.

Sorae Wetland Ecological Park

The city has allocated a budget of 592.1 billion KRW for land acquisition and facility installation for the park.

Incheon City plans to complete the basic planning service, which has been underway since 2021 to designate the National Urban Park, by August.

Next month, a planting event of halophytic plants will be held at the Sorae Wetlands Ecological Park together with citizens, alongside a "plogging" campaign (an activity involving picking up trash while walking).

In May, a nationwide National Urban Park forum involving civic groups and experts is scheduled to be held. In July, a service to establish urban management plans for the Sorae Wetlands area will be conducted.

However, difficulties are expected in the future progress of the project as landowners have filed complaints requesting the cancellation of the designation of Sorae A and B Parks decided last year for the National Urban Park designation.

Regarding this, an official from Incheon City stated, "We will continue to communicate with the landowners and strive to reflect their demands as much as possible."