Seoul to transform gritty tech hub into lush green IT district

A newly completed "street forest garden" on Digital 23-ro in Guro District, part of a broader municipal effort to inject 100,000 square meters of greenery into one of Seoul's grayest tech hubs. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

G-Valley, the massive high-density IT and digital technology cluster in southwestern Seoul, has long been a concrete engine of Korea’s economic growth with virtually no room for nature.

Operating with a public park ratio of nearly zero percent, the area has struggled to provide adequate breathing room for the hundreds of thousands of young tech workers who crowd its high-rises daily.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government launched a major environmental pivot on Tuesday to change that, announcing the completion of its first "street forest garden" in Guro District. The 7,750-square-meter green space marks the inaugural milestone of the city’s aggressive "Garden Valley Project," designed to inject 100,000 square meters of greenery into the industrial zone by 2030.

The municipal government's policy shift reflects a fundamental change in how it views economic competitiveness. In the era of artificial intelligence and digital technology, city officials argue that securing top-tier talent requires more than just modern office spaces. It demands a livable, wellness-oriented urban ecosystem.

"The Garden Valley Project is a new urban innovation initiative that transitions an industrial complex from a mere workplace into a green sanctuary where citizens can linger, walk and rest," Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during a site inspection.

The 100,000-square-meter master plan splits its focus between public and private spaces. It features 40,140 square meters of street forest gardens, which replace standard roadside spaces with multi-layered canopy trees and perennial flora. The remaining 60,909 square meters will consist of "shared gardens," an initiative where the city subsidizes up to 70 percent of costs for private building owners who convert aging, underutilized plazas into public green areas.

To bypass subterranean obstacles like underground parking structures, planners integrated architectural "modular gardens" that double as public seating.

The expansion will continue immediately.

Work on an additional 10,410-square-meter green corridor in Geumcheon District is scheduled to begin this autumn, with municipal authorities planning to scale up the project every year to permanently erase the district's industrial blight.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.