The area of urban gardens nationwide was 1,323ha in 2019, an increase of 1.8% from the previous year, and the number of their users was 2.42 million, an increase of 14.2% from the previous year (
EPIS, 2020). In the process of creating such a boom in urban agriculture and pursuing various projects, there has been an increasing demand for urban garden expansion and operation programs. In particular, the demand for creating vegetable gardens in urban parks and for programs to utilize them is increasing; in a survey of urban agricultural park users by the
Rural Development Administration (2019), 95.2% of respondents answered that it was necessary to create vegetable gardens in urban agricultural parks, and 92.2% were willing to participate in urban farming programs in such places. Urban agricultural parks are parks set up for the purpose of park-type urban agriculture pursuant to Article 8-1(1) of
Act On Development And Support Of Urban Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as
Urban Agriculture Act) for the hobbies, leisure, learning or experience of urban residents. Since in the
Act on Urban Parks, Green Areas, Etc. (hereinafter referred to as
Park and Green Areas Act), revised in March 2013, “urban agricultural parks” were newly established under the subcategory of “themed parks” installed for various purposes in addition to living-zone parks, it can be considered that the institutional foundation for the creation of urban agricultural parks was established. As of October 2020, there are about 8 urban agricultural parks nationwide, which are operated mainly by local governments: Gangdong-gu Urban Agricultural Park, Yangcheon Urban Agricultural Park, Hyangnim Urban Agricultural Park, Gwanak Urban Agricultural Park, Choansan Neighborhood Park, Jeotgae Farm Park, Hamjul Urban Agricultural Park, and Sarabong (Neighborhood) Park. However, problems with these parks that have been pointed out include poor management of the created parks, lack of budget for operation, a focus on the operation of one-off programs, and concern that the creation of urban gardens in such parks may impair the function of parks and green spaces as public goods (
Rural Development Administration, 2019). In addition, despite amendments to the relevant laws, official guidelines for the creation and management of urban agricultural parks at the national and local government levels have not been prepared, and only some studies have been conducted by the private sector. For this reason, it is necessary to find a plan for the creation and efficient management of urban agricultural parks, and to form a consensus among the people about the function of public benefit of creating and operating urban gardens in the parks, including cultivation of an agricultural sentiment, creation of green space, and conservation of the environment. Urban agricultural parks can be regarded as public services under the management and operation of local governments. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the ROK revised, promulgated, and implemented the
Enforcement Decree of the Administrative Procedure Act in 2017, which introduced the concept of “public service design” for the first time. Public service design is a new policy development technique that develops public policies and services by applying the service design method to the public sector, engaging the general public and experts directly, and communicating with them to observe and analyze public demand. (
Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 2019). Therefore, this study aimed to derive an efficient management plan for urban agricultural parks as a public service by utilizing the public service design process.