As securing land for new sports facilities in urban areas becomes increasingly difficult, retention basins and landfills whose use had long been restricted are being transformed into park golf courses. Win-win development that creates community sports spaces for residents while maintaining the original functions and characteristics of flood-control facilities and landfills is drawing attention as a new alternative.
Recently, resident-shunned facilities such as retention basins for flood control and former household waste landfills have been redeveloped around park golf courses, achieving two effects simultaneously: improving the local environment and expanding leisure spaces. The trend of harmonizing urban functions with community sports, rather than simply utilizing idle land, is spreading nationwide.
Seoul's Seongnae Retention Basin: An Urban Park Golf Course Born from Gangdong-Songpa Cooperation
The Seongnae Retention Basin Park Golf Course in Songpa-gu, Seoul, which opened this past May, is a case of transforming an urban flood-control facility into a community sports space for residents. Built on a 9,900-square-meter (about 2,995-pyeong) site in the Seongnae Retention Basin area of Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, the course spans nine holes with a total length of 567 meters and is equipped with amenities including a management office, restrooms, a water fountain, and parasols.
The Seongnae Retention Basin had been used as a flood-control facility that temporarily stores rainwater during heavy downpours. Calls continued to convert the space, which had low utilization under normal conditions, into a sports facility residents could use. With the securing of Seoul city budget in 2024 as an opportunity, a project worth about 1.05 billion won was pursued. As a result, the site was reborn as a multi-use space where flood-control functions are maintained while park golf can be enjoyed under normal conditions.
The course was created through an arrangement in which Songpa-gu provided the site and Gangdong-gu took charge of building and operating the facility. Although the administrative district belongs to Songpa-gu, the two autonomous districts cooperated so that residents of neighboring Gangdong-gu could also use it.
Use is operated on an advance reservation basis through the Gangdong-gu Sports Facility Reservation System. Songpa-gu residents can make priority reservations on the 22nd to 24th of the month before the use date, and Gangdong-gu residents also have a separate priority reservation period. During the priority reservation period, all three to four team members must be residents of the respective district. Songpa-gu residents can use the course on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and Gangdong-gu residents on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with four time slots operated each day and only three teams able to reserve per time slot.
Even after priority reservations for Songpa-gu and Gangdong-gu residents end, if reservation slots remain, any Seoul citizen member, including Songpa-gu and Gangdong-gu residents, can make reservations starting at 10 a.m. on the 25th of the previous month. The course is closed every Monday and on the days of Lunar New Year and Chuseok, and operates in four time slots per day.
Fees are 16,000 won per team on weekdays and 20,000 won per team on weekends and public holidays.
Incheon's Gongchon Retention Basin: Cheongna Park Golf Course Opens at a Flood-Control Facility
The Cheongna Park Golf Course, located within the Gongchon Retention Basin Sports Park in Seo-gu, Incheon, is a representative win-win model that transformed a retention basin into a community sports space. Opened in 2017 by the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority as part of the Gongchon Retention Basin Sports Park development project, the course was built on a 22,500-square-meter (about 6,806-pyeong) site within the Gongchon Retention Basin and features 18 holes, with A and B courses measuring 590 meters and 625 meters respectively.
The Gongchon Retention Basin is a flood-control facility that temporarily stores rainwater during heavy downpours. In building a sports park for residents on the space that had low utilization under normal conditions, the flood-control function of the retention basin was maintained as is, and various sports facilities, including the park golf course, were arranged together.
Use is operated on an online reservation basis through the Incheon Facilities Corporation integrated reservation website. Online reservations are available only to citizens whose address is in Incheon, and reservations begin every Monday at 2 p.m. Same-day closure status and operating schedules can be checked through the "Incheon Park Golf" Naver Band.
The course is closed every Monday, on New Year's Day, on the eve and day of Lunar New Year, and on the eve and day of Chuseok. Operating hours vary by season: in the winter season (October to April), it runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in the summer season (July to August), from 7 a.m. to 7:10 p.m.
The fee is 2,200 won per session (based on two hours), and those aged 65 and over, people with disabilities, and persons of national merit can use it for 1,100 won. Equipment such as clubs can also be rented for 1,100 won, allowing beginners to use it without burden.
Ulsan's Samsan-Yeocheon Landfill: From Garbage Dump to 27-Hole Park Golf Course
In Ulsan, a household waste landfill left neglected for a long period is set to be transformed into a large-scale win-win park golf course. The city is investing 9.7 billion won in project costs to build a course with three courses and 27 holes (about 64,000 square meters, or about 19,360 pyeong) at the Samsan-Yeocheon landfill near Taehwagang Station in Nam-gu, and is pursuing the project with a target opening in April next year.
The project site is where household waste was buried from 1981 to 1994. It has undergone a long stabilization process but had been neglected without any particular use. The city is redeveloping the site by covering the existing landfill with soil and creating green space.
Focusing on building the course as a "garden-type park golf course," the city plans to combine green space and walking paths throughout the course and to create a perimeter trail on the outskirts so that ordinary citizens can also use it freely. Some holes will vary in length and difficulty and incorporate bunkers and hazards to enhance the fun of play, while amenities such as a clubhouse will also be provided.
The course is also to be used as a key experience facility for the 2028 Ulsan International Garden Show. During the exposition, the plan is to arrange sculptures symbolizing participating countries and landscape elements reflecting the identity of Ulsan as an industrial city, presenting it as new tourism content that combines gardens and sports.
