Seongdong-gu Oksu-dong Retaining Wall Renovated with Forsythia Design

District prepares improvement plan by collecting residents' opinions from the early stages of setting public design direction

Starting this month, installation of ‘Eungbongsan Forsythia’ sculptures on the old retaining walls in Oksu-dong to build the urban brand image

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that it will proceed with the design improvement construction of the retaining walls in Oksu-dong, located on the border with Yongsan-gu, reflecting residents' opinions starting this month.

The retaining walls on the left and right sides of the road at the entrance and exit section of Dokseodang-ro hill, consisting of three walls, have had murals and sculptures created in 2017 that have become worn out, leading to continuous demands for urban aesthetics maintenance.

Accordingly, Seongdong-gu held a public design residents’ council in November last year and held a residents’ briefing session in Oksu-dong to listen to residents’ opinions to improve the retaining walls into a distinctive entrance and exit section. The public design residents’ council is an advisory body that collects residents’ opinions at the early stage of setting the design direction in the public design field.

Although communication with residents is necessary when promoting related projects, it was difficult to proceed quickly because considerable time was required to form a new residents’ council each time.

Perspective View of the Retaining Wall in Oksu-dong

Therefore, the ‘Seoul Special City Seongdong-gu Public Design Promotion Ordinance’ was amended to include the installation of the residents’ council, laying the foundation for a communication channel with residents.

The district comprehensively reviewed various opinions and decided on the design of the retaining walls to feature Eungbongsan Forsythia, a representative landmark familiar to residents of Seongdong-gu. Then, in March, after deliberation by the Seongdong-gu Public Design Promotion Committee composed of design experts, the final design improvement plan was prepared.

The forsythia sculptures, harmonizing with the ivy vines around the site, and LED lighting of Seongdong-gu’s catchphrase ‘#I live in Seongdong’ will be installed together to subtly decorate the retaining walls, with plans to complete by the end of July.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “We expect that improving the design of the boundary retaining walls will build Seongdong-gu’s urban brand image and increase residents’ pride.”

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