Citizens' Perceptions and Assessment of an Urban Mountainous Forest Restoration: Nature, History, and Changes

Abstract

Background and objective: Most cities in South Korea have mountainous forests as hinterland green space in their centers,which are used as urban parks. This study was conducted to analyze citizens' perceptions of a mountainous forestrestoration project being carried out in Jinju City. Methods: The research site is part of Bibongsan Mountain in Jinju City. Visitors' perceptions of the Bibongsan RestorationProject (BRP), carried out since 2015, were surveyed and analyzed regarding nature, history, and changes. The survey wasconducted from August to October 2019, and the collected data were statistically analyzed. Results: The main socio-demographic changes were an increase in the proportion of men among visitors, aging, and anincrease of unemployed people in the occupational distribution. The overall assessment of BRP implementation waspositive. Visitor perceptions of the value, revival, and restoration of historical resources were more vital than in 2015 andhad a strong positive correlation with each other. Visitors identified a high need for safety facilities for elderly visitors,improved wireless communication services, facilities for various recreational activities, outdoor learning facilities andprograms for nature study, expanded parking lots, and improved transportation services. Conclusion: The urban mountainous forest restoration project is overall satisfactory and needs to be continued. The resultsshowed that urban mountainous forests are not only recognized as spaces for walking and exercise for health but alsorecently as historical spaces expressing the unique or featured identity of the city, educational spaces for interest andunderstanding of nature, and recreational spaces that reflect local lifestyle changes. Thus, urban forests need to be restoredin the context of local historical and cultural resources as well as natural resources. In addition, there is a need to be awareof various changes in the population, including aging and an increase in retirees.