The episode of "City" program, which broach the events, policy decisions, development, pressing problems and the solutions in the capital Ulaanbaatar, was prepared from Seoul, South Korea. This time, green areas that have an important impact on the comfort and living environment of the citizens have been highlighted.

Model

The percentage of green areas is always important in creating a comfortable environment for citizens and reducing air, soil, and water pollution. That's why the cities of the world follow the standard of creating cities with green areas in the ratio of 50:50 and 60:40. In our country, due to the 70:30 regulation, today, the ratio of green areas, spatial planning, and the comfort of citizens in Ulaanbaatar city have been lost. In the present situation, the Governor of the capital city and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D.Sumiyabazar emphasized that 60 percent of the city's development should be green areas and 40 percent should be buildings.

The amount of green areas per person has increased to 5.7 square meters as of the first quarter of 2023 by improving the capital city's green areas, planting, afforesting, and building landscaped streets and areas. However, it is 3-4 times lower than the average of major cities in the world. Therefore, increasing the amount of green areas in the capital city Ulaanbaatar and creating healthy and comfortable living conditions for citizens has become one of the priority tasks.

In Ulaanbaatar’s five year development guidelines for 2021-2025, it is planned to build a park in each district and increase the amount of green areas per person to eight square meters by increasing the green areas of public roads and streets. Specifically, capital city will plant and maintain the trees to increase the number of green areas per person to the standards of other cities by creating a healthy and comfortable living environment for the citizens of the capital, increasing landscaping and horticulture, reducing air, water and soil pollution, and ensuring "Citizen Safety".

Problem

The need for green areas that improve the quality of life of its residents continues to grow with the population of the city. As for the administration of the capital city, many works are being done to make public areas green. For example, the demolition of fences and garages built without permission and the landscaping of the vacated land with green areas started last year and are still ongoing.

But there is one problem with greening the entire city. The territory of Ulaanbaatar city is 470,440 hectares. Eighty-three percent of this is owned by citizens and enterprises. The remaining 27 percent is public tenure. It is not enough to plant trees and lawn in public tenure. Therefore, the administration of the capital supports the initiatives of enterprises and citizens to create green areas and plant trees in their own lands.

Experience

The Governor of the capital city and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar D.Sumiyabazar visited Seoul, the Republic of Korea on official appointment and studied the experience of the construction of the Han River. The Han River stretches for about 40 km through the city and has 11 parks. It is estimated that more than 60 million people visit these parks annually. First, construction works such as building of a dam to prevent the river from overflowing began in 1960, but now it has expanded into an economic, commercial, and service area in addition to being a place where citizens go for vacation and leisure.

Mayor D.Sumiyabazar said, "Buildings with modern solutions that provided comfort for the citizens and is capable to organize various events, have been built along the banks of the Han River. This is not only a green area for citizens to relax, but also a development that provides economic and business benefits. Our Ulaanbaatar city can also create an economic zone based on Tuul River. In doing so, there is an opportunity for the city to cooperate with the private sector, provide financial support, and ensure the comfort of citizens."

MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF THE CAPITAL CITY