Introduction
Gardens have developed along with human civilization from ancient to modern times and have progressed into different forms under various key factors such as the spirit of the times, national character, and the natural environment. However, during the times when there was a clear distinction of status from ancient to modern times, most gardens were owned by individuals and can be regarded as homestead gardens. Even temple and palace gardens were generally owned by the king or ruler, the most powerful person at the time. Through the French Revolution and the British Industrial Revolution, social status was destroyed, and citizens actively engaged in social activities, which led to the creation and diffusion of public gardens for citizens. In modern times, the subjects of public gardens have become more diverse, such as groups, local governments, and the state, and the types of gardens are also subdivided. In the UK, members of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) take the lead in a world-famous garden show, the Chelsea Flower Show. In the case of Germany, the German federal government selects a garden city and holds a garden exposition. In Korea, local governments hold various local festivals every year. Local festivals function as a tourism product and offer direct and indirect effects on the community, such as attracting tourists, marketing the place, improving the local image, and revitalizing the regional economy (Getz, 1994, g2008; Ritchie, 1984). In the case of Suncheonman National Garden, the Suncheon government is financed by the central government and takes the lead in creating, managing, and operating the garden and hosting the local festival in the form of an alliance between the state and the local government.
Korea’s policy orientation towards becoming a ‘garden city’ is clarified by establishing the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens in 2015 and the Creation and Management of Urban Forest Act in 2020 (Lee, 2022). Since Suncheonman National Garden was designated as the first national garden and Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden as the second national garden in Korea, many local governments are currently preparing to have their gardens designated as national gardens (Korea Forest Service, 2022). The Jinju government is also aware of the need for a national garden to set the direction for regional development toward becoming Korea’s best garden, culture, and tourism city and revitalize the regional industry.
Research Methods
This study was conducted to establish preliminary strategies to have Jinju Worasan Garden designated as a national garden from November 2021 to October 2022, which was located in San 134, Dongsan-ri, Jinseong-myeon, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. First, we analyzed the basic legal requirements and administrative procedures for national garden designation. We studied the case of Suncheonman National Garden, the first to be designated as a national garden, and Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden, the second to be designated. For the case studies, we collected literature, analyzed the sites, and interviewed the persons in charge. Through the collected data from the two national gardens, we analyzed the organization and human resources as well as implementation strategies of the local governments organized for national garden designation. In order to find a strategic plan for Worasan Garden to have an identity and be differentiated from national gardens that are already designated, we investigated the garden planning and operation of Suncheonman National Garden and Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden; major plant materials and facilities to create garden images were analyzed in terms of garden planning; operating hours, operation/management organizations, and other characteristics in terms of operation. Finally, we analyzed the natural and cultural resources of Jinju, the current status of the sites, and available resources to establish a plan and implementation strategies to have Worasan Garden designated as a national garden.
Results and Discussion
Concept and classification of gardens defined by law
According to the concept of ‘gardens’ in Article 2, Paragraph 1 (2) of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens (KMGL, 2022), the term ‘garden’ means ‘any space in which plants, soil, stones, facilities (including artworks), etc. are continuously managed by displaying, placing, cultivating, or maintaining them (including facilities and their land)’. However, ‘the spaces specified by Presidential Decree, including cultural heritage, natural parks, and urban parks, are excluded’. Professionally, a garden is defined by the dictionary as ‘an area aesthetically and functionally composed of natural materials such as soil, stone, and wood, as well as artificial objects and structures, and its components include stairs, walls, fences, terraces, benches, lawns and covers, lighting, sculptures, and other decorations’. Moreover, Article 4 of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens subdivides garden types and describes each concept. Gardens are classified into national gardens, local gardens, private gardens, community gardens, living gardens, and theme gardens, and the concept of each garden is described as shown in Table 1.
Designation and operation of national gardens
The concept of the national garden first appeared as the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums was amended to the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens on January 20, 2015. Article 4 of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens defines national gardens as “gardens created and managed by the State”, and in order for a local garden to be designated as a national garden, it must meet specific requirements in terms of area and composition, organization and personnel, amenities, and operating performance. If the local garden meets the requirements of national garden designation, the Minister of the Korea Forest Service may designate it as a national garden by discussing with the head of the local government in which the local garden is located. Once it is designated as a national garden, the garden is managed at government expense. Here, if a local garden is designated as a national garden, there is an exception to the rule that the national garden is operated by the state, and thus the management authority is held by the local government in which the garden is located, as specified in Article 8-3, paragraph 4 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens. This laid the legal grounds for the concept of gardens as well as the designation and operation of national gardens.
The Enforcement Decree of the same Act provides the requirements for national garden designation, but some contents were added to the requirements and partially amended in 2021 to inspect the operating performance and ensure the quality of gardens. In other words, Article 8-3, paragraph 1 states that, since 2019, national gardens must have at least 3-year operating performance after being registered as local gardens, and the quality evaluation results must be at least 70 points to be designated as national gardens, as clarified in Appendix 2-2. Since Suncheonman National Garden was designated as a national garden before the restrictions on local gardens were established in 2019, it could be directly designated as a national garden without being designated as a local garden first. However, since Ulsan Taehwagang was designated as a national garden in July 2019, it was first designated as a local garden and then as the second national garden of Korea after meeting the requirements for national garden designation. To have Worasan Garden designated as a national garden, the Jinju government must first register it as a local garden in terms of procedure and can only apply after three years. Accordingly, the Jinju government must first register Worasan Garden as a local garden and manage the operating performance well for three years to be designated as a national garden. Currently, five sites are registered as local gardens in Korea, such as Semiwon in Yangpyeong-gun, Juknokwon in Damyang-gun, Geochang Changpowon, Yeongwol Dongseogang Garden (Yeondangwon), and Jeongeup Korean Chrysanthemum Garden, and 40 local gardens are in the process of being designed or created (Korea Forest Service, 2022). Moreover, at least seven local governments are constantly holding garden-related events such as national garden projects, garden expos, and garden cultural events to have their gardens designated as national gardens.
Table 2 shows the designation requirements for national gardens and local gardens specified in Annex 1-2 and Annex 2-2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens. For area and composition, the park must have a total area of at least 300 thousand m2, a green cover of at least 40%, and at least five gardens created in different themes. For organization and personnel, the garden must have an organization in charge of garden management, at least eight persons in charge of garden management, an ordinance on operation and management of the local garden, and designated amenities and experience facilities. In addition, it must earn at least 70 points in the evaluation of operating performance for at least three years after registration as a local garden. Therefore, the Jinju government must first have the garden meet the requirements of a local garden and apply for the local garden registration, and then make preparations to earn at least 70 points for three years. Currently, the total area of Worasan Garden meets the designation requirements, but most of the site has steep slopes. Thus, to create at least five theme gardens and secure at least 300 thousand m2 garden areas, it is necessary to obtain the lands of four villages located below Worasan Garden’s site. Moreover, to take a comprehensive and active approach to turning Jinju into a hub for gardens, culture, and tourism, one way would be to connect Namgang River as a linear landscape axis and set up a garden axis to Jinyangho Lake around the site of Worasan Garden.
Case studies: Suncheonman National Garden and Taehwagang National Garden
To effectively prepare the plan and implementation strategies for the designation of Worasan Garden as a national garden, it is necessary to examine the duties performed and the progress made by Suncheonman National Garden and Taehwagang National Garden that are already designated as national gardens, through which we will establish the plan and implementation strategies to secure work efficiency, differentiate the garden from others, and establish an identity.
Suncheonman National Garden is located in Pungdeok-dong and Ocheon-dong of Suncheon, and it was designated as a national garden on September 5, 2015. It has a total area of 926,992m2 and comprises 57 gardens, including 13 world gardens, 30 participation gardens, and 14 themed gardens (Table 3). When the strategies were established to make a national garden in Suncheon, the Suncheon government emphasized its particular site characteristics of the world’s top 5 coastal wetlands with the slogan ‘Korea’s Ecological Capital Suncheon’. According to the Korea Forest Service report by Kim et al. (2015), Korea has shown an increasing interest in gardens since the Suncheonman International Garden Expo in 2013. Suncheonman National Garden has created a variety of jobs and revitalized the regional economy, and is expected to produce a ripple effect and invigorate not only the garden industry but also other related industries, such as the production and distribution of flowers and landscaping trees, garden creation and management, and experience activities and education. As the Suncheonman International Garden Expo in 2013 has been considered a successful expo and promoted the awareness that the garden industry can drive the revitalization of the regional economy, the local government sought ways to continue managing the gardens created during the expo. In this context, the strategy implemented by the small city of Suncheon to turn this garden into a national garden was highly effective in securing the budget and seeking ways to maintain, manage, and develop the garden.
In carrying a national garden project forward, not only the implementation strategies but also the personnel and an organizational system for the steering committee to establish and prepare the strategies are fundamentally important. The organizational chart of the Suncheon government at the time seemed to have established the personnel and organizational system in phases since July 2011. In July 2011, Phase 1, Suncheonman International Garden Expo Organizing Committee had 1 bureau, 4 divisions, 13 teams, and 60 persons (Fig. 1). By Phase 2 in August 2012, the organizational system was elevated in status, comprised of 1 ministry, 3 headquarters, 10 divisions, and 29 teams, and the number of personnel also increased to 103 persons (Fig. 2). Since the designation as Korea’s 1st national garden after the garden expo was over, the Suncheon government is planning on the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo. And as of October 2021, the Organizing Committee is reformed into 1 ministry, 1 office, 2 headquarters, 8 divisions, 16 teams, and 68 persons (Fig. 3).
Taehwagang National Garden is located in Jung-gu and Nam-gu of Ulsan and was designated as a national garden on July 12, 2019. It has a total area of 835,452m2 and comprises at least 20 theme gardens with 6 themes, such as ecology, bamboo, season, aquatic life, participation, and hibiscus (Table 4). Taehwagang River had been referred to as the ‘river of death’ until the early 2000s due to the domestic sewage and industrial wastewater. As a result of the effort to improve water quality by the Ulsan government and citizens, the river was revived as the river of life inhabiting around 1,000 species of plants and animals. Taehwagang River is a first-class water ecological river that crosses downtown Ulsan and connects to Ulsan Bay in the East Sea. The basin area is 643.96km2, accounting for 60.6% of the total area of Ulsan. Taehwa Field, which was a private land with greenhouses and cattle sheds, was purchased by the Ulsan government to turn it into a park. In 2018, Taehwagang Grand Park and Taehwagang Migratory Bird Park were registered as local gardens of Taehwagang, after which they met the requirements for national garden designation, and the entire garden became Korea’s 2nd national garden in 2019. According to the Taehwagang National Garden White Paper 2020, Ulsan secured a total garden area of at least 30m2, at least five different types of theme gardens such as tradition, culture, and plants, as well as amenities such as restrooms and parking lot according to the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens to meet the requirements for national garden designation. The spread of the garden culture was also promoted by the petitions organized by citizens with hopes and desires for the national garden, as well as the active participation and publicity of the Ulsan government, environmental groups, and private organizations.
The organizational chart of garden-related departments in Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden is as follows. As of November 2021, there is the ‘Taehwagang National Garden Department’ with branches such as ‘Garden Operation Team’, ‘Future Garden Team’, and ‘Garden Facilities Team’ (1 department, 3 teams). There are 20 persons in charge. In 2022, the Garden Department was promoted to the ‘Green and Garden Bureau’ by integrating the park and garden departments and reorganized into the ‘Green and Park Department’, ‘Taehwagang National Garden Department’, and ‘Ecological Garden Department’. The three departments are operated systematically, and there are fifteen members of the staff belonging to the ‘Taehwagang National Garden Department’, which is five members less than in 2021 (Fig. 4). This may be because the major garden-related duties after the national garden designation are focused on managing and operating the gardens that are already created.
As for the Jinju government, the garden-related departments belong to the ‘Forest Department’, which is comprised of ‘Garden Team’, ‘Forest Recreation Team’, ‘Forest Protection Team’, and ‘Forest Management Team’. ‘Garden Team’ is generally in charge of garden-related duties, and there are four members of the staff. The Jinju government must expand and reorganize the organizational system to make an action plan for national garden designation and secure an adequate number of staff members to facilitate the process with reference to the cases of Suncheon and Ulsan.
Status analysis of Jinju and Worasan Garden
The Jinju government is promoting a plan to have the Worasan Mountain area designated as a national garden with focusing Worasan Garden (official name: Worasan Forest Jinju). However, the Jinju government is currently discussing alternatives to comprehensively utilize the resources in Jinju, such purchasing land near Worasan Mountain in case it becomes difficult to meet the requirements for national garden designation. This may rather be an alternative that can maximize the social, cultural, and economic effects obtained through national garden designation. Accordingly, we analyzed the natural Jinju’s environment, transportation, and cultural resources and presented implementation strategies.
Jinju is the central city of the western Gyeongnam region, South Korea. The geographical location and transportation status of Jinju are shown in Fig. 5. Changwon and Haman-gun are located to the east, Hadong-gun to the west, Sacheon and Goseong-gun to the south, and Sancheong-gun and Uiryeong-gun to the north. Moreover, Jinju serves as a bridge for cultural exchange, connecting the Gyeongjeon Line and Namhae Expressway that links Yeongnam and Honam east and west, and the Jungbu Expressway that links Daejeon-Jinju-Tongyeong north and south. It is also linked with Sacheon to the south, and Geochang and Gimcheon to the north, and thereby located in the transportation hub that connects land and ocean.
For natural environment factors, the city has geographical characteristics of a mild climate and very few meteorological disasters such as snow, rain, and wind. The average annual temperature is about 13.4°C, and the average annual precipitation is 1,546mm. The pincipal river is the Namgang River which forms the artery of Gyeongnam, forming Jinyangho Lake and then flowing through the center of the city from the west to northeast into the Nakdonggang River.
Jinju has been the center of local administration since ancient times and still plays a significant role in the cultural aspect as a central city of the southern region (Fig. 5). It has leading local cultural festivals such as the Gaecheon Art Festival, Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival, and Jinju Nongae Festival that represent Jinju as a city of culture and arts. Jinju’s eight most famous tourist attractions are Chokseokru, Namgang River Uiam Rock, Dwibyeori, Saebyeori, Mangjinsan Mountain Bongsudae, the spring scenery of Bibongsan Mountain, the sunrise of Worasan Mountain, and the sunset of Jinyangho Lake. It also has Gyeongsangnam-do Arboretum and Worasan Garden (Worasan Forest Jinju) for urban residents to rest and heal themselves.
Jinju is a small/medium-sized local city with a population of about 350,000. It takes a typical locational form based on the feng shui theory, with Bibongsan Mountain that blocks the north wind against the city on its back and the Namgang River flowing through the city. Around the 1970s and1980s, a lattice-type street network was formed through urban plan renewal in the old downtown area, providing the infrastructure for modern urban life. Worasan Mountain is a neighborhood area with good accessibility from the city within 10km, as well as a large-scale forest with a gentle slope and dense forest visited by many citizens for hiking (Heo, 2020).
Although Worasan Mountain had suffered forest fires in the past and the forest was severely damaged, it has now been restored thanks to the voluntary efforts of citizens and provides excellent scenery (Fig. 6). Before being designated as a natural recreation forest in 2017, Worasan Mountain, located near the city, was mainly used for walking and mountain climbing (Heo et al., 2016). About 96ha of the area in San 134, Dongsan-ri, Jinseong-myeon, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do was finally designated and approved by the Korea Forest Service as Worasan Natural Recreation Forest, after which forest leisure, sports, and recreation facilities were created. In 2022, Worasan Garden (Worasan Forest Jinju) was opened and became a leading forest resource in Jinju, used by citizens for purposes such as culture, leisure, and health promotion. With a unique landscape of forests, farmlands, and lakes, Worasan Garden is to be developed into a national garden based on the mountainous forest, including the surrounding area. To this end, plans and implementation strategies were established, and design services were requested for national garden designation, in addition to performing other administrative and financial duties.
Worasan Garden is mostly surrounded by mountainous areas. The peak altitude is 470m, but the altitude within the Worasan Natural Recreation Forest is within the range of 100–450m. About 39% of the total area is located within the range of 100–200m, and 29% is a gentle slope with an inclination of about 0–20 degrees, making it highly useful as a garden site. The main vegetation of Worasan Mountain is comprised mostly of deciduous broad-leaved trees rather than coniferous trees at the summit, while pine trees that had been superspecies before the forest fires are distributed on the ridges along the talus.
Worasan Garden creation plan for national garden designation
First, Worasan Garden has a topographic nature of gentle slopes, so a good alternative would be forming a three-dimensional landscape by specializing it into a ‘mountainous national garden’ that is differentiated from Suncheonman National Garden and Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden located on flat land with ‘bays’ and ‘rivers’ in the background. Second, a reservoir is located on the lower side of Worasan Garden, under which there are four villages. To use Worasan Mountain as the hub of the national garden, the Jinju government can purchase these villages to use as the garden site and specialize them into traditional Korean mountain villages based on four seasons. The mountainous national garden including these mountainous villages will create a unique and differentiated landscape, providing rich interest by expressing Korea’s identity. Third, Woragyo Bridge, located on the upper side of Worasan Garden, serves as a viewpoint to enjoy a panoramic view like a terrace in an Italian terrace-style garden (Fig. 6(B)). If this Woragyo Bridge is used as a ‘frame of borrowed scenery’ offering a view of up to four villages, it is possible to create magnificent three-dimensional scenery. Fourth, it is necessary to make the most of the site’s resources in order to reduce the cost of garden construction. Pit stone accounts for at least 20% of all the constituent resources forming the gentle slope of Worasan Garden. The terraced rock garden was also constructed using pit stones dug from the Worasan Mountain site. This rock garden can creates a sense of unity with the mountainous landscape, which cannot be found in the two national gardens that are already designated (Fig. 6(C)). Fifth, as the name ‘Worasan’ means ‘moonrise-shaped mountain’, the ‘moon’ can be set as a theme to create symbolic and theme gardens. Currently, ‘Woragyo Bridge (meaning moonrise bridge)’ and ‘Moonlight Garden’ are named after the symbol of the ‘moon’. As such, theme gardens can be created with the symbolic meaning of the moon, telling a story about the moon. Moreover, a garden with the image of the moon can be created using moon structures or facade lighting. Sixth, Worasan Garden currently has a children’s library (official name: Forest Children’s Library) and playground, leisure and sports facilities for the youth, accommodation and auto camping space, a woodworking workshop center, and healing facilities. Therefore, it is possible to create various theme gardens by classifying the main users by age group as well as tastes and preferences for gardens. These theme gardens tailored to these visitor groups will not only maximize visitor satisfaction but also increase intimacy and usage as a garden that urban residents would want to visit.
Implementation strategies for national garden designation and activation of garden culture
It is necessary to present the need to designate Worasan Garden as a national garden, spread the garden culture among citizens, and induce their support and participation. According to the social exchange theory, citizens who perceive national garden designation’s benefits for individuals will show a positive attitude and support (Ap, 1992; Jurowski et al., 1997). National garden designation will have limitations in progress when it is only led by the Jinju government. It can only be made possible when citizens understand and perceive the need for national gardens, have a positive awareness, and offer active support and participation. Studies on resident perceptions about regional development for tourism worldwide suggested that embracing the opinions and values of local communities is essential for sustainable tourism (Abdollahzadeh and Sharifzadeh, 2014; Akis et al., 1996; Andereck et al., 2005; Getz, 1994; Gursoy et al., 2002; Hernandez et al., 1996; Lankford, 1994; McGehee and Andereck, 2004). Until Ulsan Taehwagang was designated as a national garden, approximately 120 thousand Ulsan citizens signed the petition and actively participated in garden expansion campaigns. Lee et al. (2017) emphasized the importance of creating demands to enjoy garden culture as a plan to activate the garden culture within the city in various government departments in Korea. In particular, in addition to designating public gardens to increase garden demands, efforts are made to meet the needs of gardens by opening up a new garden market such as gardens that can be tended by anyone without spatial constraints or gardens for urban residents living in apartments. The Jinju government must also activate projects to improve the local environment including gardens, promote the anticipated effects that Worasan National Garden will bring to the branding of the city and revitalization of the regional economy to the citizens, and induce positive awareness, support, and participation of citizens by implementing related policies, projects, and education.
To prevent sprawl, it is necessary to designate ‘the garden hinterland as green district’ in Worasan Garden. Regional tourism development carried forward with no proper plan and consideration of the regional value and environment may have a negative impact on the local community in terms of society, culture, environment, and economy (Sheldon and Abenoja, 2001). Worasan Garden must create a landscape in the concept of Pierre Donadieu’s urban countryside in which mountain forest gardens blend in with mountain villages, with the urban countryside connoting the duality between ecology and identity (Matos and Batista, 2013). Through this, it is possible to develop a forest culture tourist site that revitalizes the regional culture and creates the beauty of the national garden as a differentiated natural-cultural complex with identity converging the climate of the southern region and the rich history and culture of Jinju, thereby serving as one of the national policy projects that contribute to increasing the income of local residents and creating jobs. Worasan Mountain is referred to as the forest of miracles after 30ha was destroyed by massive forest fires in 1995 and restored into a space of health and recovery by citizens’ voluntary and active participation. Brought back to life with the efforts of local residents, Worasan Mountain might end up violating residents’ health and living rights and destroying the natural ecosystem due to a sprawl in the hinterland before and after the national garden designation. Thus, it is necessary to seek sustainable forest protection by designating a district in the hinterland of Worasan Garden to preserve a secure public green space.
Cooperation with related organizations, citizens, and experts is necessary for the registration of local gardens and national gardens. Therefore, the Jinju government must also cooperate with each group and citizen of Jinju to register the garden as a local garden and then develop it into a national garden. It is necessary to form and operate an advisory group for professional planning and execution of Jinju’s garden industry and culture expansion, such as garden-related organizations, consultative bodies, and academic experts, and carry out the project by communicating with residents and the local government. Moreover, support plans must be established for garden-related businesses such as farmhouses and flower gardens, and efforts must be made to discover and foster local talents by training gardeners with basic knowledge and practical competencies about plants. Furthermore, there must be support and assistance such as the budget, competency enhancement education, and publicity.
The image of Jinju must be improved by holding a garden expo and various other garden-related events (Jang and Lee, 2019). It is necessary to raise awareness of Jinju and Worasan Garden through the garden expo, garden-related events, and publicity. In other words, there is a need to discover and utilize village gardens hidden throughout the region other than Worasan Garden or to additionally create them in order to develop Jinju’s own garden culture, spread the local awareness of gardens, and establish an image as a garden city in the Gyeongsang region. Perceiving the importance of garden tourism, Europe, which is advanced in gardens, created gardens using closed mines and farms by investing more than $ 1 million in the early 20th century and held constant events (festivals), which increased values to the gardens each year (Seo, 2017). It is necessary to discover and create gardens in old and idle spaces in the region, differentiate the event from other garden expos, and organize and operate storytelling and programs aligning the national garden with other gardens in the region to spread the garden culture unique to Jinju. Moreover, the garden must be turned into a tourism product, developing programs for anyone to visit and experience the garden easily and for individuals, organizations, and companies to create works. There must be publicity and marketing of the garden with a focus on Worasan Garden as well as tourism aligned with Jinju. It is necessary to establish a garden tourism network around Worasan Garden and continuously attract visitors by connecting to the cultural and artistic base focused on festivals that are already being held. Another good strategy would be to promote the revitalization of the regional economy by connecting gardens and local festivals with tourism programs and branding Jinju as a city of garden, tourism, and culture. In addition, unique city tour buses can be operated to connect the major tourist spots of Jinju, and there must be aggressive online marketing and publicity using YouTube and supporters.
Finally, an integrated plan must be devised to designate Worasan Garden as a national garden. For national garden designation, it is necessary first to register Worasan Garden as a local garden, enact garden-related ordinances, and develop the procedures for designating Worasan Garden as a national garden through the comparative analysis with Suncheonman National Garden and Taehwagang National Garden, after which a comprehensive plan for national garden designation should be established and implemented with the hopes and desires of citizens.
Conclusion
The Jinju government is preparing to have Worasan Garden (official name: Worasan Forest Jinju) designated as a national garden. This study was conducted to establish preliminary strategies to designate Worasan Garden as a national garden. We reviewed laws related to national garden designation, studied cases of Suncheonman National Garden and Ulsan Taehwagang National Garden that are already designated as national gardens, and established implementation strategies to differentiate and give identity to Worasan Garden and efficiently achieve the goals. Two sites are currently designated as national gardens in Korea: No. 1 ‘Suncheonman National Garden’ and No. 2 Ulsan ‘Taehwagang National Garden’. Both are supported by the government in terms of budget, but the gardens are managed and operated by the local governments in which they are located in terms of the administrative district, such as Suncheon and Ulsan. If Worasan Garden is designated as a national garden, the Jinju government will also be in charge of managing and operating the garden. The requirements for national garden designation are specified in Annex 1-2 and Annex 2-2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens. The main requirements are classified into area and composition, organization and personnel, facilities, and operating performance, which are then subdivided into detailed requirements. Some detailed requirements for area and composition are that the garden must have a total area of at least 300 thousand m2; green cover of at least 40%, including preserved land, artificial green, lake, and river; and at least five gardens in different themes. Worasan Garden meets the requirement of total area, but the garden area and themed gardens must be obtained additionally. The Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens was amended in 2021 regarding the requirements for national garden designation. Article 8-3, paragraph 1 states that, starting from 2019, national gardens must have at least three years of operating performance since registration as a local garden and earn at least 70 points in quality evaluation be designated as a national garden. Accordingly, the Jinju government must first register Worasan Garden as a local garden and manage its operating performance well for three years so that it can be designated as a national garden.
Local governments will be showing more interest and making more preparations for national gardens in the future. Therefore, there must be strategies to establish an identity and differentiate their gardens from the national gardens that are already designated. In that vein, Worasan Garden has an excellent natural landscape with a unique mountainous form. As Worasan Mountain has gentle slopes with an altitude of 100–450m, it is possible to create a more three-dimensional and magnificent landscape than the two national gardens, mainly composed of flat land. In particular, visitors can even enjoy a panoramic view of the nearby villages from the Woragyo Bridge installed within the site of Worasan Forest Jinju, thereby adopting a borrowed scenery. The natural environment and resources have a significant influence on the landscape formation of a garden. More than 20% of Worasan Garden’s site is composed of pit stone, so natural rock gardens and terraced flowerbeds can be created. Worasan Garden can be created into a ‘mountainous garden’ or ‘mountain village garden’ and a theme garden using pit stones that are not in other national gardens. Worasan Garden can also apply various techniques with the ‘moon’ as the theme. A storytelling garden can be created with a tale about the moon, or facade lighting can be used to create a ‘moon garden’ or ‘night sky garden’ that is beautiful and splendid even at night. Moreover, a unique theme garden can be created by installing a moon-shaped sculpture or lighting. Jinju is a leading cultural city representing western Gyeongnam with its Gaecheon Art Festival, Yudeung Festival, and Jinju Nongae Festival. In particular, Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival is a night festival that represents Korea. Therefore, by creating a garden city with Worasan Garden, Namgang River, and Jinyangho Lake as a landscape axis, Jinju can be developed into the most beautiful city with a harmony of the four seasons, traditions, culture, and gardens in both day and night.
Gardens always breathe life and beauty into a desolate space and provide joy and relaxation. The Jinju government should prepare to reflect these values of gardens on Worasan Garden for its national garden designation. Therefore, if the vision is set on national garden designation, it is desirable to establish a comprehensive action plan considering the designation requirements of a national garden from the point of preparing for a local garden. In other words, to differentiate Worasan Garden from other national gardens, it is necessary to develop garden design and culture with identity by combining the natural resources (climate, vegetation, topography) of the southern region, the long historical and cultural resources of the old city of Jinju, and citizens’ aspiration and participation. It is also necessary to prepare for national garden designation by establishing efficient implementation strategies and make mid- to long-term action plans with a broader view to brand Jinju as the best city of gardens, culture, and tourism that people want to visit the most.
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