1.1 Million Citizens to Become Gardeners ... Blueprint Unveiled for 2028 Ulsan International Garden Expo

【Financial News, Ulsan—Choi Soo-sang, reporter】The 2028 Ulsan International Garden Expo Organizing Committee unveiled the blueprint for the expo’s future vision and key projects on the 15th.
The stated goal is a garden expo that works with citizens to shape the transition from a city that experienced a “river of death” into a city of recovery today.
The central theme is “Next Garden.” The concept is to redefine “recovery” as the standard for civilization in an era of climate crisis and create future-oriented gardens that bring together ecology, technology and culture.
The official slogan is “A Million Hands, One Garden.” It expresses the idea that all 1.1 million Ulsan citizens will take part as gardeners and complete the project together. The expo will be realized through three concepts: Future Garden, Art Garden and Life Garden.
Four key strategies were also introduced to ensure the expo’s successful hosting and sustainability.
The first is “Exhibition of the Process,” which will reveal the entire ecological restoration process—not just finished gardens—starting 500 days before the opening. The second is “Created by Citizens,” which will foster citizen gardeners and encourage participation by companies and workers. The third is “Connecting the World,” which will share Ulsan’s ecological restoration experience with the international community and make it an international agenda. The final strategy, “A 100-Year Legacy,” is to make the expo’s closing day the founding day of Garden City Ulsan and leave behind lasting infrastructure.
These plans will take shape through 12 key projects, with the expo site divided into four project areas offering a variety of attractions.
The Future Garden area will feature the “AX Garden Testbed,” where an artificial intelligence (AI) irrigation system and maintenance robots will be tested. In the Art Garden area, an ecological art exhibition combining plants and digital technology will be held, along with media art for “Taehwa River Night Garden,” which links the Simni Bamboo Forest with the lights of the industrial complex. The Life Garden area will include the “Landfill Living Lab,” which monitors soil cleanup and changes in vegetation at the landfill, and the “Healing Garden Trail,” where visitors can walk through 30 years of ecological restoration history.
A “Garden of Working Hands,” created through collaboration between industrial workers and landscape architects, will also be developed.

Plans for the site’s use after the expo were also presented.
After the expo ends, a four-part legacy framework will be established and post-event management will begin. In the cultural sector, Taehwa River’s nighttime media art will be established as Ulsan’s annual signature festival. In education, the Children’s Nature Playground will remain as a permanent multipurpose cultural space. In terms of human resources, the organization of citizen gardeners who complete the expo’s program will become the official contracted operator of the national garden and the landfill. In the industrial sector, the plan is to develop the landfill site into a hub for the new garden industry, building on proven smart-garden technologies.
Yu Sa-won, vice chair of the organizing committee, said, “The 2028 Ulsan International Garden Expo will be a turning point that shares with the world the miracle of ecological restoration achieved by Ulsan, South Korea’s industrial capital, and creates future assets for the next 100 years together with its citizens.” He added, “Rather than presenting a finished garden expo, we plan to bring enjoyment and inspiration through a process created by the citizens of Ulsan.”
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