At 10 a.m. on the 7th at Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul. In front of the children's experience facility "Dreaming Children's Garden Station," children and parents lined up. Even though it was a weekday morning, all morning experience program slots were fully booked that day. Visitors kept asking about the afternoon programs.
A facility official said, "All five experience halls inside the Children's Garden are popular," and "some halls draw more than 100 visitors a day."
The rest areas throughout the garden were also crowded. An office worker, a person surnamed Shin (43), who took a day off and visited the reading space "Yongsan Bookshelves" with his wife, said he came after seeing news that the Yongsan Children's Garden area has recently been mentioned as a candidate site for supplying dwellings.
Shin said, "What Seoul lacks most is large parks," and "it would be a shame if a space that so many citizens visit disappears."
Yongsan Children's Garden, which has become a rest area for citizens, stands at the center of a debate over dwellings supply. As the government reviews additional real estate supply measures, the area is being discussed as a candidate site for new dwellings. Most citizens encountered on site reacted negatively to development. Many questioned whether it makes sense to reduce urban green space to build apartments amid record-breaking heat waves.
◇Yongsan Children's Park cited as a site for dwellings supply
According to industry sources on the 8th, Yongsan Children's Garden is an area temporarily opened after the government took back part of Yongsan Garrison from the U.S. military. It covers 300,000 square meters—about 10% of the entire 3 million-square-meter garrison—or roughly 97,500 pyeong, the size of 42 soccer fields. Under the Special Act on the Creation of Yongsan Park, the area was to be built as a national park.
But the situation changed after the Ministry of National Defense lifted the protected zone around Yongsan Children's Garden last month. Observers began saying the government could use the land for dwellings supply. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol also recently said, regarding supply measures, that lifting greenbelt restrictions and using military facilities are under review.
The Seoul city government immediately objected. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on the 6th, "Even part of Yongsan Park should not be used for dwellings supply," adding, "with heat waves driven by climate change, we must preserve and manage green space as much as possible." Yongsan District also said, "Approaching this with the logic of dwellings supply without sufficient discussion and consensus undermines the purpose of creating a park and its national value."
◇"Apartments on land promised as a park don't make sense"
A person surnamed Kim, in their 40s, met in the garden, said they had worked five years at the former ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. Kim said, "I've watched how this land has changed," and "saying you will build apartments on land that, by social consensus, was to be used as a park makes no sense historically or in common sense."
Citizen concerns were not limited to the loss of a place to rest. As heat waves become routine, the role of urban green space has grown more important.
Research also shows that urban forests help lower city heat. According to the National Institute of Forest Science, the number of heat-wave days in urban areas was five times higher than in urban forests, and tropical-night days were more than three times higher. A recent study by the National Disaster Management Institute also found that the heat-wave vulnerability of Seoul's northern and southern areas, where green spaces such as Bukhansan Mountain and Gwanaksan Mountain are abundant, was relatively lower.
A person surnamed Jeon (35), who came to Seoul from South Gyeongsang Province with a child, said, "Every time I come to Seoul, I feel there aren't enough outdoor spaces to take my child," adding, "if even places like this turn into apartments, won't there be even fewer places for kids to run around?"
◇"Seoul lacks land"… calls for more supply as well
There were not only opposing views. Some said that because it is difficult to secure new housing sites in Seoul, public land should also be considered broadly.
An office worker, a person surnamed Kim (27), who rents a jeonse in Mapo District, said, "If we are to build more homes in the greater Seoul area where demand concentrates, we ultimately need to find new land," adding, "only with more supply will residential options expand."
Seoul has almost no large new housing sites left. Because redevelopment and reconstruction take considerable time from project launch to move-in, some analysts say the government has no choice but to consider public land or military facilities to quickly secure supply in the short term.
A real estate expert said, "It is true that it's hard to secure new housing sites in Seoul, but when developing large urban green spaces, we must consider not only the supply effect but also the environment and the city's competitiveness," adding, "there also needs to be a process of persuading the public about the actual supply volume that can be secured and whether it sufficiently serves the public interest."