The site of a demolished veterans' hall near Samyang intersection has been reborn as Solsaem Isul Garden, featuring flowers and trees across all four seasons. The district invested 200 million won in city funds to create a rest area and reading nook, bringing garden culture closer to everyday life.
Gangbuk-gu in Seoul has created a neighborhood garden on the site of a former veterans' hall demolished near Samyang intersection in Mia-dong.
The project was carried out in connection with the Seoul Metropolitan Government's "5-Minute Garden City Seoul" policy, with the aim of giving residents easy access to nature and green spaces close to where they live.
The site was previously home to a veterans' hall completed in 1975. The building had received a D rating in a structural safety assessment and had sat vacant since June 2018. With corroding reinforcement bars and deteriorating exterior walls posing a pedestrian safety risk and detracting from the urban streetscape, the district demolished the structure and cleared the site.
The district invested 200 million won ($149,000) in city funds to create a 284-square-meter garden on the cleared site. Trees and seasonal flowering plants were chosen to offer blooms and fruit across all four seasons, and amenities including benches, bar-height tables and a reading nook were installed so visitors can rest or read during a stroll.
The garden was named Solsaem Isul Garden — a name evoking the freshness of rain-soaked plants. Visitors can observe flowers and trees as they change with the seasons, and the garden is particularly striking after rainfall, when moisture-laden plants and blossoms combine to create an especially vibrant scene.
Rest areas are woven among the flowers and trees throughout the garden so residents can linger as part of their daily routines. A long-vacant, aging building site has been transformed into a green living space where people can enjoy flowers and trees up close and take a moment to unwind.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government's neighborhood garden program aims to create spaces with high-quality garden design and ecological function — gardens that are sustainable, easy to maintain and capable of responding to the climate crisis. The district plans to monitor the health of the trees and flowering plants on an ongoing basis to ensure residents can enjoy the garden comfortably year-round.
"A site that had long been occupied by a vacant, aging building has been reborn as a garden where people can enjoy flowers and trees up close and take a break," Gangbuk-gu District Mayor Jung Chang-soo said. "We will tend to Solsaem Isul Garden with care so that it becomes a space that adds a small measure of ease and vitality to residents' everyday lives."
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