After the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of visitors to urban parks has skyrocketed. Many citizens who want to relax and take a walk in an open space with a relatively low risk of infection headed to the park. Parks are more valuable than ever as social infrastructure to overcome urban crises and disasters. Central administrative agencies and local governments need to reflect this reality and establish and implement policies to improve park services quantitatively and qualitatively.

Urban parks that were intensively built during the period of economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s entered the stage of physical and functional aging. Parks, which account for about 32% of the total number of urban parks, have passed more than 20 years since their creation, showing problems such as poor plant growth, damage to facilities, and vandalism. Policies should be taken to improve the quality of old park services and to continuously manage them. While the financial independence of local governments are lowering, there is a limit to solving the decrepit park problem with the efforts of local governments. While securing tax revenue is expected to become more difficult due to a decrease in population, it is necessary to actively seek ways to improve the quality of decripit park services through public-private partnership.