Busan will create 23 eco-friendly 'Smart Gardens' this year

[Smart City Today]

Busan Metropolitan City announced that it will invest 830 million won this year to create smart gardens in 23 places, including multi-use facilities in the city.

Smart Garden is a new type of garden where you can enjoy the four seasons indoors by combining air purification plants and an automatic water supply system. It has been promoted as a state-subsidized project of the Korea Forest Service since 2021 to support citizens to heal their minds and bodies and reduce fine dust.

The creating target sites are multi-use facilities including industrial complexes and public facilities in Busan. This year, the target site will be expanded to educational counseling facilities and social welfare facilities that need plant healing effects.

If any company(organization) that wishes to install a smart garden submits an application to Busan Metropolitan City on condition that it maintains and manages the garden for the next five years, the city(town) will design and construct the smart garden free of charge in consultation with the company(organization). The city plans to create a smart garden in various forms such as wall type, mixed type, and cube type depending on the characteristics of the created space.

According to a recent study by Hankyong University on the effectiveness of smart gardens, a smart garden doubles the amount of blood flow to the brain (153%), and relieves fatigue and blood pressure, while relieving physical tension and stress. In addition, it was analyzed that there were so many various advantages as the sympathetic nerves decrease and the parasympathetic nerves increase, relieves daily stress, reduces fatigue and depression by more than 50%, and increase motivation and vitality by more than 100%.

Lee Keun-hee, head of the Busan Metropolitan City's Environmental Policy Office, said, "Smart Garden is an eco-friendly indoor rest place that greatly helps urban residents' health, healing, and emotion." adding, "Busan will build 20 smart gardens every year by 2025 so that we can realize 'Busan, an eco-friendly city that we want to live"