Seonyudo Park

Seonyudo Park is an award-winning urban ecological park, created by the conversion of a former water treatment plant.

The park, which covers over 100,000 square metres, sits on a island in the Hangang River which runs through the capital city of South Korea, Seoul. It contains four ecological zones which each incorporate existing sewage treatment infrastructure into their design. For example, in the ‘garden of transition’ former chemical decomposition vats now house an aroma garden, a moss garden and a fern garden. In the ‘aquatic botanical garden’ shallow filtration basins, previously used to remove debris from the water, now contain a variety of native Korean plant species. The zones are linked with other public facilities by a maze of paths, boardwalks and elevated walkways that run alongside a network of pipelines and water conduits.

The park works hard to make visitors aware of plant diversity and the site’s history. It’s a popular option for school tours due to the variety of plant life and unique hothouse species.

Seonyudo is South Korea’s first urban ecological park. It is part of the ‘New Seoul’ initiative introduced by the city’s planning authority, which aims to provide the city with more green space and to diversify cultural programming. Its creation coincided with a general urban makeover in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Park is also part of a wider renaissance project for the river which will eventually link Seonyudo Island into a network of green spaces.

Read the full case study for Seonyudo Park.

Tags: green infrastructure, public space, water, neighbourhoods