Gangdong-gu Urban Agriculture Park
Seoul, South Korea · Operator: Gangdong-gu Office (Urban Agriculture Division)
Overview
Opened in October 2013 as Korea's first urban-agriculture park. Developed by Gangdong-gu as the centre of its eco-friendly urban-agriculture policy, it combines resident allotments, food education, hands-on experience and native-seed conservation as a healing and community space.
Citizen participation
Gangdong-gu residents receive about 12 m² plots per household by lottery and practise eco-friendly farming without chemical fertilisers or pesticides. Participation is built around education and hands-on programs, including a native-seed school, an insect school and children's experience gardens (April–October).
Operating model
A public park developed and operated by Gangdong-gu as the hub of its eco-friendly urban-agriculture policy. The district funds operations and runs facilities such as the 'Singsing Dream' direct-sale shop for eco-friendly produce, supporting a local food cycle.
Impact
As Korea's first urban-agriculture park it set a precedent for municipalities nationwide; academic research has even reported that opening such public community gardens raises nearby housing prices.
Land tenure
District-owned and managed park land; residents use plots allocated by lottery under a license/allotment scheme.
Crops
- vegetables
- herbs
Scale
Korea's first urban-agriculture park in Dunchon-dong; resident allotment plots of about 12 m² per household allocated by lottery, plus experience gardens and a related Iljasan garden (about 7,572 m², 300 plots)
Sources(2)
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
Related cases
Share Batake (AgriMedia)
JPTokyo, Japan
Operated by AgriMedia, Share Batake is one of Japan's largest networks of supported allotment gardens, letting beginners grow vegetables hands-free while also putting underused farmland to use.
agrimedia.jp+1
Midori to No no Taikenjuku (Nerima Experience Farm)
JPTokyo, Japan
Japan's first 'experience farm', opened in Nerima in 1996, where a farmer leads instruction. Unlike simple allotments, it combines high-quality growing experience with preservation of urban farmland, and became a model copied nationwide.
city.nerima.tokyo.jp+1
Junkan Seikatsu Lab Cardboard-Box Composting (Fukuoka)
JPFukuoka, Japan
A Fukuoka-based citizen group that has researched and spread the 'cardboard-box compost' method—decomposing kitchen waste using only microbes—for over two decades, turning household food scraps into compost within the neighborhood to build a 2-km-radius nutrient cycle.
jun-namaken.com+2
Seseragi Community Garden (Machi no Namagomi Ikashi-tai)
JPHino, Japan
A community garden in Hino City, Tokyo, started by citizens who believe 'kitchen waste is a treasure.' It collects and composts the kitchen waste of around 200 households and grows vegetables and flowers pesticide-free as a food-cycle garden. Naomi Shimpo studied its management and governance in detail in her 2021 and 2024 papers.
acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com+3