Yangcheon-gu announced Sunday that Yongwangsan Neighborhood Park, emerging as one of Seoul's new urban destinations, has been transformed into a multi-purpose wellness space that is more walkable and inviting than ever.
The district has pursued a series of improvements — including the opening of the Yongwangsan Forest Café and the Yongwangsan Skywalk — and has now completed a renovation of aging facilities and a landscape enhancement project across the park, creating a safe and comfortable environment for all visitors.
The aging running and walking track inside the park has been fully rebuilt, with new lane markings laid out to match actual pedestrian and exercise traffic flows, separating walkers from runners. Portable dividers have been installed in select sections to prevent collisions and make better use of the space.
Worn-out pergolas have been replaced to provide more comfortable rest areas, and the rubber-block paving around exercise equipment has been upgraded to cork-elastic surfacing for a better underfoot experience.
About 5,000 flowering plants — including roses and hydrangeas — have been planted in the green space beside the outdoor stage to create what the district calls an ornamental garden. Rose arches and large basket-style planters have made the spot a popular photo destination for visitors. Mist bollards have been installed around the garden to keep it cool during summer, and landscape lighting around the rose arches is planned to offer a distinctive nighttime attraction.
Yongwangsan in Yangcheon-gu has been steadily establishing itself as a leading local tourism destination through a series of facility expansions in recent years.
The Yongwangsan Skywalk, completed in April, is an elevated forest path suspended up to 10 meters above the ground. Since opening, visitor reviews have spread across social media and online communities, drawing attention to it as one of Seoul's newest scenic outlooks. Designed as a barrier-free deck path stretching 224 meters in total length and up to 3 meters wide, it is fully accessible to elderly visitors, people with disabilities and stroller users. LED lighting installed along roughly 390 meters of the path combines with the city's glittering nighttime skyline to create a spectacular evening view.
The Yongwangsan Forest Café, which opened in December, was created by renovating a long-abandoned former reservoir caretaker's quarters inside the park. Spanning a total floor area of 99.36 square meters, the café features a spacious private room and a variety of open seating arrangements, along with a wide outdoor deck and tables overlooking the forest, where visitors can relax in a natural setting.
The café operates as a community-benefit facility linked to a senior employment program, providing stable jobs for elderly residents in the area. Since the Yongwangsan Skywalk opened in April, foot traffic to the park has grown, bringing more visitors to the café as well and contributing to the park's vitality and the broader neighborhood economy.
"With the forest café, the skywalk and now the full park renovation all complete, Yongwangsan has taken another leap forward as the district's signature wellness destination," Yangcheon-gu District Mayor Lee Gi-jae said. "We will continue to expand spaces where nature, rest and culture come together, so that this becomes a premier park that everyone wants to visit."
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