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Gimhae International Airport's Everyday Green Space Wins Excellence Award in Indoor Garden Category at Best Practices Competition for Everyday Gardens

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Chun Jae-soo) announced that the everyday green space (indoor garden) created at Gimhae International Airport has received an Excellence Award in the Overall Indoor Garden Category at the 2026 Best Practices Competition for Everyday Gardens.

Organized by the Korea Forest Service and the Korea Arboreta and Gardens Institute, the competition aims to identify outstanding everyday gardens, promote best practices in the development and operation of participatory and carbon-neutral gardens, and showcase distinctive everyday gardens across different regions.

This year's competition was open to 362 everyday gardens established nationwide between 2020 and 2024, including 117 indoor gardens in public facilities.

The Overall Indoor Garden Category, in which the airport garden received its award, evaluates the overall quality of indoor garden operations, from initial development to maintenance and utilization. Through document reviews and on-site inspections, entries are comprehensively assessed on criteria including quality of development, plant diversity, maintenance conditions, aesthetics, safety, and usability.

Gimhae International Airport's Everyday Green Space was developed between March 2023 and July 2024, covering an area of 293 square meters (㎡), with a total investment of KRW 500 million, comprising KRW 250 million in national funding and KRW 250 million in city funding.

The project was designed to provide airport passengers with pleasant, attractive green spaces and improve indoor air quality. Distinctive indoor gardens were created in different areas to reflect the characteristics of the airport as a public facility.

The Busan Welcome Garden, located in the first-floor arrivals area of the domestic terminal, was designed as a smart green space combining a vertical garden with automated plant management technology. It allows visitors arriving in Busan to experience greenery and enjoy a moment of relaxation as soon as they enter the airport.

The Moss Gallery, located in the second-floor boarding area of the domestic terminal, was developed around the concept of a miniature botanical garden. Featuring a horizontal garden with a variety of plants and an eco-friendly resting area, it offers passengers waiting to board an opportunity to experience nature up close and relax.

Film Busan and Wave Busan, located in the first-floor arrivals area of the international terminal, were created as exhibition-style themed gardens symbolizing Busan's identity as a city of cinema and a maritime city, respectively. Through these gardens, domestic and international visitors can naturally experience Busan's urban identity and culture.

The award is particularly meaningful because the project demonstrates the potential of everyday gardens to bring nature into daily life by transforming indoor areas of public facilities frequently used by citizens and visitors into green spaces.

In particular, even in public facilities where securing separate outdoor areas is difficult, the project demonstrates how gardens can be developed by considering the characteristics of indoor spaces and patterns of visitor movement, transforming areas primarily used for transit and waiting into green spaces where nature and relaxation coexist.

Building on this recognition, Busan Metropolitan City plans to expand everyday green spaces throughout areas frequented by citizens and advance its vision of "Busan, a City within a Garden," where residents can easily access nature and gardens in their daily lives.

The city will continue identifying opportunities to create everyday gardens in unused indoor and outdoor spaces, particularly in frequently visited public facilities such as government buildings and transportation facilities. It also plans to develop diverse types of gardens that reflect the characteristics of each location and the needs of its users.

In addition, the city intends to foster a gardening culture in which citizens actively participate in creating and maintaining gardens through initiatives such as training citizen gardeners and operating gardening programs. By connecting these efforts with major garden attractions, including the Busan Garden Show and Busan Nakdong River Garden, the city aims to develop gardens into spaces that connect everyday life, culture, and tourism.

Kim Chang-deok, Director-General of the Green City Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, said, "Gimhae International Airport's Everyday Green Space demonstrates how introducing gardens into public facilities used by large numbers of citizens and visitors can bring nature into everyday life."

He added, "We will continue bringing gardens into spaces throughout the city and fostering a culture in which citizens can enjoy and care for gardens themselves. Through these efforts, we will build 'Busan, a City within a Garden,' where gardens become a natural part of everyday life."