Yongin's Green Spaces Transform in Giheung, Suji, and Choin Districts...City Advances Design Plans

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Yongin Special City is advancing specific designs for customized parks and greenery that fit its local environment.

For the Choin district, the city plans to expand parks in underserved areas where urban parks are insufficient relative to population, such as Mohyeon-eup, and will create themed parks with distinctive characteristics around cultural heritage sites such as Choinseong and Euniseongji Sanctuary.

In the Giheung and Suji districts, the city plans to build additional park infrastructure in areas where parks are lacking relative to population, such as Sinbong-dong, and will develop parks by receiving contributions in lieu of fees from urban development projects such as Platform City.

Through expansion of parks in residential areas, the percentage of the population able to access urban parks within a 10-minute walk will increase from the current 68 percent to 82.3 percent by 2035.

According to Yongin City on the 19th, the "2035 Park and Greenery Master Plan" to implement these measures passed final review by the Gyeonggi Province Urban Planning Committee in March.

The Park and Greenery Master Plan is a basic framework that, in accordance with the "Act on Urban Parks and Greenery," provides direction for the expansion, management, and use of parks and greenery in 10-year increments.

The core of the 2035 Park and Greenery Master Plan is to secure parks and greenery that citizens can practically use, increasing the current per-capita park and greenery space from 6.5㎡ to 15.77㎡ by 2035.

Looking at the plan, to preserve greenery for future generations, it reflects the designation of greenery conservation districts in Jeongwang-san and Galmi-bong, centered around six framework greenery zones including ▲Eunisan and Chilbong-san ▲Geumbak-san ▲Jeongwang-san ▲Beophwa-san and Hyangsoo-san ▲Hambak-san ▲Gwanggyo-san.

▲Idong Reservoir ▲Giheung Reservoir and other waterfront spaces and linear greenery networks utilizing waterfront axes such as Gyeongan Stream and Jinwi Stream will also be strengthened.

Additionally, the city plans to promote urban greening projects using idle spaces such as schools, public institutions, and parking lots and will sequentially maintain existing parks.
Through wind corridor analysis, Pogok-eup and Gimryang-jang-dong in Choin-gu and Dongcheon-dong in Suji-gu have been designated as priority greening districts for conducting greening projects such as roadside tree planting.

Prior to submitting the master plan to the Gyeonggi Province Urban Planning Committee in September last year, the city collected diverse opinions through reviews by the Yongin City Council and the Urban Park Committee, citizen surveys, and online and offline public hearings.

The master plan is available for review by any citizen who visits the Urban Parks Business Office's Park Development Division. The review period runs through May 16.

Yongin Mayor Baek Gyun-gi said, "This plan is a blueprint for Yongin City to solidify its status as an eco-friendly ecological city," and added, "We will spare no effort in supporting the city's transformation into a premier park city where any citizen can find parks to rest near their living space without restrictions based on location."

Meanwhile, over the past four years, the city has pursued various policies to return greenery to citizens.

In particular, in 2018, the city established the Special Committee on Investigation of Haphazard Development and strengthened the slope of Suji-gu, which had been marked by disorderly development, to 17.5 degrees, completely blocking indiscriminate mountainous land development.

In addition, the city is proceeding with a long-term project to promote 13 long-unexecuted urban parks as urban parks, creating parks in citizens' daily lives that anyone can easily use for free.

Through consistent financial investment, four parks have completed park development and compensation, and five parks including Googi Neighborhood Park are securing budgets in phases to pursue compensation.

Tongsam Neighborhood Park, measuring 108,124㎡ (equivalent to 15 soccer fields), began civil engineering work in December last year and launched full-scale landscape construction from the 13th.

In particular, Shinbong 3 Neighborhood Park, with an area of 518,047㎡ (equivalent to 73 soccer fields) and the largest long-unexecuted park in the city, was selected for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH)'s public land reserve project, with LH providing advance purchases.

From the city's perspective, this reduces the land compensation costs that could spike sharply and allows for installment repayment over five years, providing financial relief.