Pocket parks provide patches of greenery
A cluster of 47 “pocket parks” will be built in the Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone by the end of this year, as authorities look to enhance the area’s living environment.
The zone, which is a part of the Shandong Peninsula National Innovation Demonstration Zone, invested more than 43.5 million yuan ($6.29 million) in the construction of three full-size parks and 35 pocket parks last year.
That investment has since been increased to 120 million yuan for three full-size urban parks and 40 pocket parks, with 10 of them already open to the public and 13 under construction. The rest are still in the planning stage.
A pocket park is a small area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for recreation, enjoyment and to provide some greenery.
Yuan Jindong, deputy director of the zone’s urban construction bureau, said sculptures, cultural demonstration walls, exercise equipment and playground structures will be added to the parks in the future, for the benefit of the people using them.
A competition was initiated to select 118 sculptures for the parks, with local residents being asked to cast their vote on which sculptures should be used and where they should be placed.
One resident, surnamed Ding, said two of the parks were being built near her home, adding that she was looking forward to using them.