Yangsan City Accelerates Transition to ‘2030 Green City’

November 3: Midterm Report Meeting Held for the 2030 Green City Roadmap

On the morning of November 3, at 10 a.m., Yangsan City in South Gyeongsang Province held the 'Green City Roadmap Midterm Report Meeting' in the situation room on the 3rd floor of the main city hall building.

This roadmap is the result of about two and a half months of work by a task force team, established in accordance with Mayor Na Dongyeon's proposal last July to develop an environmental master plan. It presents a comprehensive strategy for Yangsan City to shed its image as a gray city and transition into a green and environmentally friendly city.

Green City Roadmap Midterm Report Meeting. Provided by Yangsan City

With the vision of 'Yangsan, City of Green Breaths,' this roadmap will be implemented from 2026 to 2030. It consists of five sectors-climate crisis, ecological environment, living environment, resource circulation, and infrastructure development-covering 15 areas, 42 strategic initiatives, and 108 major projects.

Key details include the climate crisis sector, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34.1% compared to 2018 levels and achieve a 30% renewable energy adoption rate by 2030.

In the ecological environment sector, the city is pursuing the designation of the Wondong Wetland as a national wetland protected area, the creation of the Hwangsan Park local garden (scheduled for 2027), and its registration as a national garden. Notably, Hwangsan Park, transformed from a sand deposit into an ecological green space, is expected to reduce greenhouse gases by approximately 20,000 tCO2eq, equivalent to the reduction achieved by 20,000 electric vehicles.

Additionally, through urban greening projects, the city plans to increase green coverage, mitigate the urban heat island effect, and enhance the image of Yangsan as a green city by creating symbolic urban forests.

In the living environment sector, the city aims to keep ultrafine dust levels below 12㎍/㎥, achieve Grade 2 water quality in the Yangsan Stream, establish AI-powered smart water purification plants, and expand regional water intake facilities to raise the self-sufficiency rate of safe tap water to 100%. Furthermore, odor management will be tailored to each region, with the goal of reducing related civil complaints by 30% by 2030.

In the field of eco-friendly transportation, the city will accelerate the realization of carbon neutrality by constructing metropolitan rail networks (Busan-Yangsan-Ulsan, Southeast Region Circular Line), opening the Yangsan urban rail line in 2026, and expanding the adoption of eco-friendly vehicles.

For resource circulation, the city plans to modernize resource recovery facilities to improve waste treatment efficiency by over 40%, double the food waste treatment capacity to 120 tons per day by expanding biogas facilities, and increase the recycling rate to 59% through enhanced waste resource circulation activities.

In addition, the city will expand citizen participation in environmental initiatives by designating an environmental education center (by 2028) and establishing a carbon neutrality governance framework.

Kim Kyunga, head of the Climate and Environment Division, stated, "This roadmap is not just a list of environmental policies, but a concrete action plan designed to bring about tangible changes that citizens can experience. Through the proclamation of the 'Green City Yangsan' vision at the end of February next year, we will realize the dream of building an environmentally friendly city together with our citizens."

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