History of Seoul’s Parks and Green Space Policies: Focusing on Policy Changes in Urban Development

Abstract

Globally, urban areas have been expanding rapidly since industrialization. In South Korea, urban policy has evolved according to urban development, but the change in parks and green spaces policy for a pleasant urban environment is insignificant. The purpose of this study is to present the direction of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s parks and green spaces policy in terms of green infrastructure, by examining urban policies and changes in the parks and green spaces policy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The research method established the concepts of urbanization, green park areas, and green infrastructure, focusing on a literature review. The trends in urban development in South Korea and abroad, the correlation between urban development and green park areas, and changes in the parks and green spaces policy of Seoul are examined. The study found that urbanization in South Korea has augmented since 1960, and the parks and green spaces policy has also focused on quantitative expansion. As the era of local autonomy passed, there were remarkable policy changes tailored to citizens’ needs, and major policy directions were determined according to the political inclinations of policymakers. The era of low growth adopted the policy of introducing green park areas as green infrastructure to solve urban environmental problems, and parks and green spaces policies as strategic plans to re-naturalize smart green cities and urban infrastructure, and to increase urban resilience using advanced technology. Future research is expected regarding consistent policy implementation measures linked to the state-regions, such as analyzing citizens’ perceptions of policies to solve urban problems and taking practical measures for the implementation of parks and green spaces policies to expand green infrastructure. The implication of the study is that the green infrastructure strategy is important as a solution to urban environmental issues such as climate change. Therefore, there should be a will of policymakers and strong institutional support for continuous policy promotion.

Interplay between greenspace interactions and sense of place in Seoul City

“…Their study supports the present study's findings that environmental GI has the strongest influence on greenspace perception. This connection can also be supported with public initiatives by local governments in Seoul City to promote urban greenspaces and parks, enhancing recreational opportunities for residents (Choi and Kim, 2022). The study confirms a robust correlation between environmental consciousness and GSP, indicating a stronger connection between residents' environmental sensitivity and their spatial perception of urban nature.…”

“…Notably, environmental GI, which indicates individual recognition of biodiversity, ecosystems, and green stewardship, plays a significant role in the GI-GSP relationship. This insight aligns with increasing attention toward urban nature in South Korea's capital region, ranging from individual (Baek et al, 2020) to political efforts by local governments (Choi and Kim, 2022). Baek et al (2020) found that urban residents' desire to engage with nature correlates strongly with their intention to visit greenspaces.…”

Urban Resilience of Metropolitans in the Mid-Latitude Coastal Regions of East Asia for Global Weather Anomalies

“…As a result, it would have been di cult to achieve the initially planned sustainability and resilience. Urbanization around the study area has continued since 2003 when the research began; the low-density and low-rise building area was reconstructed into a highdensity and high-rise building area to maximize the pro tability of the highly advantageous location in the new town, as revealed by land cover data and satellite images (4,13).…”

Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Urban Green Space in Chengdu Urban Center under Rapid Urbanization: From the Policy-Oriented Perspective

“…Currently, UGS research is clustered around the insights that it brings to relevant policy making [37,38]. Urbanization has led to the evolution of greening policies; however, the two are not yet fully synchronized [39]. Therefore, while some attention has been paid to exploring the relationship between UGS and the associated greening policies in different urbanization stages [20,40], a gap still remains in terms of understanding how different stages of greening policy implementation impact changes in UGS.…”