Seongnam Mulbit Garden's "Hidden Underground Space" to Be Filled with Citizen Ideas

Seongnam City Returns a Long-Neglected Space to Its Citizens
A Flood of Ideas for Utilizing the Seongnam Mulbit Garden Underground Utility Tunnel
From Citizen Exploration to "Imagination Idea Video" Submissions

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province announced on December 8 that it is working to further enhance the utilization of the Seongnam Mulbit Garden, which features a music hall and walking trails on the former Gumi-dong sewage treatment plant site (29,041 square meters) that had been left unused for 28 years, by gathering citizen ideas.

Mayor Shin Sangjin of Seongnam participating in the citizen exploration program underway to find ways to utilize the underground utility tunnel at Gumi-dong Seongnam Mulbit Garden. Provided by Seongnam City

To this end, the city held a citizen exploration team program for the underground space of Seongnam Mulbit Garden on December 6.

A total of 35 people participated in this program, either by registering in advance or on-site.

They were divided into four groups and explored a 112-meter section of the underground utility tunnel, from the Seongnam Mulbit Garden management building to the grit chamber, over a period of 30 minutes.

The exploration team wrote down a variety of ideas for utilizing the underground space on cards.

The proposed ideas included: creating a multi-purpose sports facility such as an indoor swimming pool and fitness center by utilizing the spatial structure; establishing a family- and generation-friendly community space with amenities such as a senior rest area and a children's forest playground; and developing trendy commercial and cultural spaces such as a theme park-style entertainment arcade and festival venue.

On that day (December 6), Seongnam Mayor Shin Sangjin participated in the exploration program and listened to citizens' opinions.

He stated, "We will thoroughly review the ideas suggested on-site and actively incorporate them into future policies and space planning processes."

In addition to the exploration team, the city installed an idea submission box in front of the music hall for three days (December 5 to 7), allowing any citizen to freely submit suggestions for utilizing the Seongnam Mulbit Garden space.

Citizens submitted a total of 160 ideas, either as drawings or written proposals.

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sangjin talking with participants of the Seongnam Mulbit Garden underground joint duct citizen exploration team. Provided by Seongnam City

Additionally, the city is accepting submissions for the "Seongnam Mulbit Garden Utilization Idea Video Contest" (videos of up to one minute) until December 9.

The city plans to collect and review all submitted and ongoing ideas and pursue ways to redesign the space with a focus on citizens' needs.

The former sewage treatment plant, now transformed into Seongnam Mulbit Garden, was constructed by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), with construction starting in 1994 and completion in 1997. However, due to opposition from nearby residents during trial operations, it was left unused for 28 years and came to be regarded as an unwanted facility.

In response, the city moved forward with a plan to turn the site into a cultural complex space for citizens.

The Seongnam Mulbit Garden walking trail opened on June 13, and the music hall opened on September 5, both receiving positive responses from citizens.

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