Gyeonggi Province to Invite Applications for Next Year's Citizen-Led Village Garden Sites

Gyeonggi Province will publicly recruit sites for its 2026 Citizen-Led Village Garden project.

The Gyeonggi Province Village Garden project is a flagship resident-participation green initiative in which local residents and organizations directly plan, create, and manage gardens.

Since its launch in 2017, a total of 119 village gardens have been created through last year. This year, 18 additional gardens are being established, including public gardens led by cities and counties.

Gyeonggi Province plans to select a total of 18 village gardens next year, including 13 citizen-led sites. The selected village communities will take the lead in every stage of the process, from developing business plans to garden creation, planting, and ongoing maintenance. Each site will receive up to 200 million won in support.

Village communities wishing to participate in the contest must apply for the project through their respective city or county by May 30.

Citizen-Led Village Garden Contest Poster

Cities and counties will conduct a preliminary review of project suitability and recommend candidate sites to Gyeonggi Province by June 10. Afterwards, Gyeonggi Province and garden experts will select the final sites through document and on-site evaluations, with the final results to be confirmed in August.

Gyeonggi Province expects this project to revitalize local communities, expand green spaces in daily life, and contribute to climate change response.

Lee Jeongsoo, Director of the Garden Industry Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "The process of dreaming and cultivating village gardens together with neighbors is itself the beginning of community restoration," adding, "We will work with residents to create warm villages connected by flowers and gardens."

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