Image: Ulsan City ()
Ulsan City announced the ‘Second Vision of Taehwa River National Garden’ to make Taehwa River into a cultural cradle for citizens at 10 am on March 23rd.
In the past, the Taehwa River was recognized as a ‘river of death’ in the industrialization era, but it has been revived as a ‘river of life’ with the power of citizens, and as it was designated as a national garden in 2019, it has established itself as a symbol of ecological restoration in Korea.
Ulsan City plans to strengthen Taehwa River as a new growth engine for Ulsan’s future eco-friendly culture and tourism in ‘Taehwa River National Garden Vision II’ and develop Taehwa River into the world’s best eco-tourism attraction.
First, the Taehwa River National Garden will be expanded to the south, east and west.
Ulsan City announced in July of last year a plan to include the Taehwa River National Garden Project as well as the Taehwa River and Samho Districts as well as the entire Namsan Mountain area as part of the “Great Peace Taehwa River National Garden Project.”
This time, they plan to expand the national garden to Myeongchon Bridge to the east and Daegokcheon Stream to the west.
Through the expansion of the Taehwa River National Garden, the Bangudae Petroglyphs with world heritage value and a complex belt with nature, culture, history, and tourism from Daegokcheon to the lower Taehwa River will be created.
The plan is to create a natural connection between the facilities behind the waterfront so that visitors can enjoy going back and forth through the entire national garden without interrupting the flow of movement.
Namsan-ro will be underground and the parking lot will be purchased to create a garden complex and garden way, including an indoor botanical garden.
The Taehwa River and Yeocheon Stream will be connected to increase the accessibility of Taehwa River Station users and citizens.
Second, the Taehwa River special cultural tourism zone will be created.
In the Taehwa River National Garden Food Complex, they will focus efforts on revitalizing the commercial district by developing cultural contents using local special resources and preparing a plan to connect with the surrounding commercial districts.
The plan is to build a base for stay-type tourism (infrastructure), such as renovating old houses in the food complex and creating a guesthouse complex that reflects the unique character and taste of the area and to create buildings specializing in gardens and attractive special streets.
On the garden road for the realization of a garden city, an open space for various cultural programs and a rest space centered on the garden will be created.
With the Taehwa River in the background, it is a road unique to Ulsan Bay where nature, culture, and citizens harmonize, and it will become a road loved and visited by tourists from all over the country like Gyeongnidan-gil in Seoul and Hwangridan-gil in Gyeongju.
Third, the day and night of the Taehwa River are filled with fun and joy.
More than 100,000 rooks visit the Taehwa River every year, and this scenery has become a new tourist attraction.
Based on this, they plan to organize a program that all citizens can enjoy together and promote the so-called ‘Ulsan Flock Festival’.
Through various events and events, such as a spectacular group dance experience of a rook, flying a flock of kites with children, teenagers, and families, a drone show that will decorate the night sky beautifully, and a team singing and dancing contest.
The pedestrian-only Ulsan Bridge, used most by citizens, will create a new night view of downtown Ulsan by installing night scenery lighting at the lower part of the bridge and a light show using a moving beam light.
At the outdoor performance hall in the Taehwa District of the National Garden, a large-scale light safari night scene will be created using the natural environment around the Taehwa River and 3D stereoscopic holograms.
Ulsan City plans to introduce eco-friendly tourism and transportation means such as hydrogen cruise ships and water taxis to Taehwa River by linking Ulsan’s marine tourism resources such as Ulsan Bay, Jangsaengpo, and Daewangam with the hydrogen industry.
“The Taehwa River National Garden received the 2020 United Nations Asian Urban Landscape Award, and last year, it also received an Excellence Award from the world’s most prestigious ‘World Landscape Architects Association’. We will do our best to develop it into a tourist attraction,” an official from Ulsan City said.
