Changes in Residents’ Perceptions of Gardens in Jinju City, South Korea

초록

Background and objective: As interest in gardens has increasingly surpassed that in parks in South Korea, both garden creation and participation in gardening have increased considerably. Consequently, public perceptions of gardens arerapidly changing. Through 2025, Jinju City in Gyeongsangnam-do (Gyeongnam) has actively promoted garden culture city policies, including the creation and operation of gardens, support for the training and activities of citizen gardeners, and the organization and implementation of regional and national scale garden events. This study aimed to analyze the changes of local residents’ perceptions of gardens in Jinju City. Methods: A survey was conducted in 2025 to examine respondents’ demographic background, behavior and purposes ofgarden visits, assessment of garden creation and operation, perception of gardens compared to public parks, and the importance and performance of garden attributes. To analyze the changes compared with the 2018 Gyeongnam referencedata, the data from 272 respondents were analyzed using frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), and importance–performance analysis (IPA). Results: The frequency of visits ‘more than 1 times a year’ increased from 2.1% in 2018 to 23.9% in 2025. The primary visit purposes were ‘appreciation of gardens and surrounding scenery’ and ‘enjoyment of outdoor activities.’ Notably,‘mental and physical relaxation/recovery’ showed a statistically significant increase compared with the 2018. Evaluations of Jinju City’s garden creation and operation improved significantly, increasing from 3.32 to 3.69 points. Perceived priorities of the garden sector for regional revitalization were highest for garden tourism (4.20), followed by garden culture (4.06) and the garden industry (3.95), all of which were significantly higher than the 2018 (3.91). The MDS results indicated that the dimensions distinguishing the term “garden” became clearer than the 2018 and that gardens are increasingly recognized as spaces with public value. The IPA results revealed substantial increases in the importance of ‘facilities for social interaction, such as cafes and restaurants (x10)’ and ‘various cultural events (x8).’ And the performance of ‘conservation of plants andnatural resources (x1)’ and ‘research on conservation and utilization of plants (x2)’ declined. Conclusion: Garden policies and related initiatives implemented in Jinju City through 2025 have successfully increased visit frequency and expanded the purposes of garden visits compared with the 2018. Local residents’ recognition of the public value of gardens, as well as their positive perceptions of the necessity of gardens for regional revitalization, increased notably. However, some part of the results also suggest a need to strengthen the educational functions of these gardens.

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