Suwon's Younghung Forest Park to Open Temporarily Starting Next Month

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Suwon City announced on the 27th that it has completed Phase 1 of the 'Younghung Forest Park Development Project' that began in 2014, and will temporarily open it to citizens starting next month.

The facilities being temporarily opened include a 2.7km mountain-style walking trail, a health plaza (floor fountain), an indoor sports center, a forest playground, and park roads.

Younghung Forest Park, which spans an area equivalent to 70 soccer fields (501,937㎡), features walking paths, a forest playground for children, viewing decks, pedestrian bridges, and more. Recreational spaces for citizens such as benches and pergolas, floor fountains, and ecological forest experience spaces have also been created. Additionally, sports facilities including a sports center, footvolley courts, and outdoor exercise equipment available to the public have been constructed.

The arboretum (146,000㎡) has been developed as a garden-style arboretum while preserving the existing mountainous terrain. It consists of a 'display garden' and a 'collection garden,' with the display garden featuring a blooming garden, rock garden, Jeongjo Hyowon, and rest garden, while the collection garden includes a mugunghwa garden, hosta garden, hydrangea garden, and rare wildflower garden.

Approximately 1,000 species of trees and flowers have been planted in the arboretum, allowing visitors to enjoy the forest's changing appearance throughout the seasons. The 1,980㎡ exhibition greenhouse features subtropical plants including rubber trees, mangoes, coffee trees, red-striped bananas, papayas, bird of paradise flowers, and dendrobium orchids. The arboretum facilities are scheduled to open in spring next year after a preparation period.

Younghung Forest Park, a neighborhood park designated as a park facility in June 1969, had over 90% of its park area undeveloped for a long period due to financial constraints. Suwon City pioneered the 'private park special exception project' nationwide, a method of private capital development under the 'Urban Parks and Greenery Act.'

While private developers can develop 30% of the total project area for non-park purposes, the city reduced the private development area to minimize forest damage and preserve the existing terrain, resulting in only about 14% of the total area being developed as apartment complexes.

Phase 2 of the Younghung Forest Park project, which involves creating park walking trails and plazas, is scheduled to be completed in April 2023.

A city official stated, "The Younghung Park development project is a private development project prioritizing public interest, where the developer develops 14% of the total area and contributes 86% to the park," and added, "We hope many citizens will visit Younghung Forest Park, Suwon City's first landmark park featuring an arboretum."