Special Feature Suwon City Creates - 1,001 Gardens Made Together by Citizens

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Since spring 2023, charming gardens have begun appearing one by one throughout Suwon Special Metropolitan City. As time has passed, the gardens have continued to multiply, and now when walking through Suwon, one can encounter beautiful gardens created on vacant land approximately once every five minutes.

These are the 'Saebit Suwon Palm Gardens' that the city creates together with citizens. The first palm garden was created in spring 2023, and now the number has grown to 1,001. The total area where gardens have been created reaches 45,920㎡, equivalent to 6.4 soccer fields.

Citizens Lead Creation of 'Open Gardens' Throughout the City

The palm garden project involves citizens leading the creation of 'open gardens' throughout the city. Citizen communities plant flowers and trees in empty urban spaces—village plazas, school flower beds, and vacant lots—to create gardens. Anyone can participate: citizens, businesses, village communities, and public institutions.

Palm gardens are community gardens with the goal of "changing the city with citizens' hands." They form a 'network garden,' where greenery extends outward and connects like palm lines. Communities decide where to create gardens and what plants to place in them, and communities also manage the gardens.

396 Organizations Participate in Garden Creation, 9,600 Participants

The city established a comprehensive plan in the second half of 2022 and began creating palm gardens with citizens from the following year. In 2023, 312 palm gardens were created; in 2024, 312 gardens; and in 2025, 377 gardens. To date, 396 organizations have participated in garden creation, and the number of participants has reached 9,600.

The 'Saebit Suwon Palm Garden Group,' launched in February 2023, took the lead in creating palm gardens. It is a citizen volunteer organization that participates in the palm garden policy and creates garden culture in daily life. The group conducts activities including palm garden creation and monitoring and participation in Suwon Garden Day, playing a major role in creating and nurturing palm gardens. Currently, 1,114 members are active.

Citizens from Various Backgrounds Create Gardens in Diverse Locations

Citizens from various backgrounds have created and nurtured beautiful palm gardens in diverse locations. Members of International Rotary 3750 District Suwon clubs created a garden in May 2023 in the roundabout area of Jangdari-ro in Ingye-dong.

The Suwon Women's Organizations Council created a palm garden in April 2024 on Maesan-ro in Paldal-gu with the message "Special companionship between you and me, gender equality." In May of the same year, Suwon FC Women players created a palm garden in Jeongja-dong, Jangan-gu.

In July of last year, North Korean defectors created a palm garden at Jageun-sae Children's Park in Paldal-gu to commemorate the second anniversary of North Korean Defectors' Day (July 14).

Palm Gardens Created Based on 3 Strategies and 12 Major Tasks

The city is creating palm gardens based on 3 strategies and 12 major tasks. The first strategy is 'supporting voluntary garden culture.' The city operates 'tool support centers' at 40 locations that rent landscaping tools necessary for maintaining gardens, operates palm garden consultation offices that provide advice on garden creation, and 'gardening days' where citizens experience palm gardens, supporting citizens in participating in garden creation.

The palm garden consultation office operates from February to November at the Plant Consultation Room on the first floor of Ilwol Arboretum and the Garden Consultation Office on the second floor of Younghung Arboretum. Online consultation is also available via email (garden1000@korea.kr).

The second strategy is 'adding gardens to daily life.' The city holds citizen garden competitions and conducts competitions for gardens created by citizens. Through evaluation sessions, gardens receiving excellent scores are awarded prizes.

The third strategy is 'forming sustained consensus.' The Saebit Suwon Palm Garden Group has played a major role in spreading palm gardens through activities from planning garden creation to creation and management activities. The city is broadening participation in palm garden creation through cooperation with various institutions, businesses, and organizations.

Garden Information Available on 'Map View of Palm Gardens'

In 2024, the city constructed an online map titled 'Map View of Palm Gardens' where information on Saebit Suwon Palm Gardens created throughout the city can be viewed at a glance. Palm garden locations are marked as dots on the Suwon City map.

By hovering the mouse cursor over a dot, users can view information including garden name, location, creation date, area, participating organizations, and number of participants. Palm gardens that received awards in competitions are marked with red flags.

On the Suwon City website (www.suwon.go.kr), users can search for 'palm garden' in the search box to view the online map, photos of award-winning citizen gardens from competitions, and detailed information about palm gardens.

A city official stated, "The Saebit Suwon Palm Gardens, created and nurtured together by citizens, are spaces where community spirit blooms," and expressed expectations that "if citizens actively participate in palm garden creation and nurture them beautifully, palm gardens can establish themselves as a garden culture policy that the world will pay attention to."