Korean govt spurs green rooftop plans

Saturday, 22 November 2008

Driving value through a business process platform

The challenges facing the public sector today are greater than ever, writes Vivek Puthucode, Industry ...

Next generation data centres

Pankaj Sharma, vice president, sales and marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, explains how APC meets ...

The perpetual collaboration mandate

Globalisation, ecological issues, technological impact and other modern challenges are driving the need for streamlined ...

Shaping governments of the future

Leong Peng Kiong talks about pioneering new ways of building, implementing and operating e-government services.

SPOTLIGHT Archive

Print this article

Green Government, Local Government

By Amelia Kwok | 9 October 2008

In a bid to ‘greening’ Seoul, the city government has been encouraging building owners to construct rooftop gardens as one of its “green Seoul” projects.

View photos

Related Categories

From this Section

NEWS

“Many studies show that green rooftops can save energy in cooling and heating by up to 17 per cent while also making buildings and the cityscape look much better,” said Choi Hyoun-sil, deputy director of landscape division at Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Added Choi, “We try to establish more parks in the city but the high prices of land here make it much harder. Rooftop gardens are a quick and easy solution.”

The city government gives subsidies to building owners for the construction of rooftop gardens, up to 70 percent of the total budget, and offers information through public conferences and its web site green.seoul.go.kr.

The Wolgok Welfare Centre opened a green garden at the rooftop for local residents in May 2007.

“We didn’t have enough space for visitors to take a rest but it was almost impossible to construct a new building,” said Kim Min, facility manager of Wolgok Welfare Centre. “The rooftop garden has become a valuable space for us.”

Also, the Eunpyeong hospital has built a green rooftop at its building for therapeutic purposes for patients.

“The garden can help patients recuperate in a relaxing environment and create a positive frame of mind,” said Kim Mi-young, a therapist at the hospital. “The green environment is especially helpful for those suffering from depression.”

Top of page