Historically, gardens have started as deeply personal spaces and gradually have been offered as green spaces to the public. In modern times, the opening of gardens has shown social utility and is even used as an economic tool. The spread of garden cul...
Historically, gardens have started as deeply personal spaces and gradually have been offered as green spaces to the public. In modern times, the opening of gardens has shown social utility and is even used as an economic tool. The spread of garden culture in Korea, which began with the 2013 Suncheonman International Garden Expo, has continued for the past ten years. Under government leadership, various gardens are being created nationwide. Additionally, the 'private garden' system, which opens gardens created and managed by individuals or corporations to the public through a registration process, is in operation to utilize these gardens as resources for the development of garden culture.
As of December 31, 2023, there are 126 private gardens registered with the Korea Forest Service based on the 'Act on the Creation and Promotion of Arboretums and Gardens.' These private gardens, which are created and managed by corporations, organizations, or individuals, can receive technical support from the state and local governments according to Article 18-6 of the 'Arboretum and Garden Act.' They can also receive financial support necessary for the management and operation of the gardens, including plant preservation and propagation. Currently, private gardens are being promoted through various channels. Although many private gardens do not actually receive the support specified in the regulations, considering the sustainability of the system, it was judged that if the state manages gardens created by individuals, publicness is essential.
Therefore, we aimed to verify whether private gardens are actually fulfilling their public roles. First, we examined the public role of private residential gardens, the most personal space. We believed that if a public role is being carried out in the most private space, the publicness of all private gardens could also be sufficiently inferred.
Thus, we analyzed the operational forms of all private gardens and selected private residential gardens as the subject of our study. This subject was studied by dividing it into spatial and content ranges. The research method included organizing the necessary concepts such as 'garden,' 'garden opening,' and 'garden roles' through theoretical research and understanding the private garden system. Following this, we secured the uniqueness of this study through prior research on the 'public role of gardens' and 'private gardens.' After the literature review, the research was conducted through field surveys and in-depth interviews.
Through this, we found that private residential gardens play public roles ranging from 'sharing space,' 'means of local relocation and settlement,' to 'promoting various types of gardens,' addressing issues from the development of garden culture to responding to the disappearance of local populations. According to the analysis framework for public roles, they contributed most to the publicness in the fields of economy and community and also equally contributed to the areas of education, landscape, health, and historical publicness.
Furthermore, it was found that when private gardens are registered voluntarily and with support from local governments, the execution and planning of public roles are clearer. Therefore, for the private garden system to facilitate voluntary registration, efforts to establish brand recognition for private gardens and support from local governments are necessary. This would ensure the proper execution of the public roles of private gardens and secure the sustainability of the system.
However, this study did not target all private gardens and did not secure objective indicators for the performance of public roles. Future tasks include follow-up research to complement these limitations and approaching private gardens from more diverse perspectives. This will help to explore what role private gardens will play in Korea's garden culture.
keywords : Garden, Private Garden, Open Garden, Garden Culture, Publicness of Gardens
Student Number : 2022-29249