Pyeongtaek Seokjeong Neighborhood Park to Develop into Large-Scale Northern Park by 2024

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Pyeongtaek City announced on the 15th that it is developing Seokjeong Neighborhood Park, a large-scale park spanning 200,000 square meters in Ichung-dong and Jangdang-dong, as a private investment project.

Seokjeong Neighborhood Park, jointly implemented by Pyeongtaek City and Pyeongtaek Seokjeong Park Dream Co., Ltd., will receive 470 billion won in private capital investment.

Seokjeong Neighborhood Park is an urban planning facility initially decided in 1987 during the former Songtan City period. It had not been developed for over 30 years and faced an automatic dissolution under the sunset clause if approval for park development was not obtained by July 2020.

To construct the park, the city needed to invest substantial resources. However, as it was difficult to execute large-scale budgets in a short timeframe, after careful deliberation, Pyeongtaek City decided to implement its first private sector project in the park sector in 2018.

Currently, 114 billion won has been invested and the compensation procedures are in the final stages. The total area of the private project is 255,000 square meters, with 55,000 square meters (22%) for residential building construction and 200,000 square meters (78%) for park development to be donated free of charge to Pyeongtaek City.

Construction will take place from next year through 2024, and will include forest rest areas, family picnic areas, a flower garden, a performance venue, and a forest playground.

Pyeongtaek Mayor Jung Jang-seon stated, "By proceeding with the private project, we can save finances to develop a large-scale eco-friendly park, and the saved budget can be reinvested in essential infrastructure that citizens need. We will complete the related permits and approvals by the end of this year and open the park as a comfortable rest space for citizens by 2024."