Hyundai Engineering wins Seoul Garden City Award for urban ecological garden

Three gardens planned across Seoul by 2027

Hyundai Engineering receives the Corporate Partnership Special Award at the 2026 Seoul Garden City Awards ceremony held at Seoul City Hall on Monday. From left: Kim Min-jeong, head of Hyundai Engineering's specialized design team; Seoul Deputy Mayor for Administration Kim Seong-bo; and Song Myeong-suk, head of Hyundai Engineering's marketing strategy division. [Hyundai Engineering]

Hyundai Engineering announced Tuesday that it received the Corporate Partnership Special Award at the 2026 Seoul Garden City Awards for Plan B Garden, an urban ecological space it created last year at Bukseoul Dream Forest in Gangbuk-gu.

Now in its 14th year, the Seoul Garden City Awards is the city's flagship competition designed to identify and promote outstanding garden projects created in everyday urban spaces through the participation of citizens, organizations and businesses.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held the awards ceremony at Seoul City Hall on Monday, presenting trophies to 23 works and teams. Hyundai Engineering was recognized for its contribution to expanding urban green space and spreading garden culture through Plan B Garden. The company was particularly praised for going beyond simple garden construction to link the project with urban ecosystem restoration, citizen participation programs and vocational training for people with borderline intellectual functioning.

Hyundai Engineering is pursuing "Gift House Plan B" in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Justpeace Foundation and Urban Bees Seoul, aiming to extend the values of its social contribution program "Gift House" — which has long provided safe housing for vulnerable residents — into urban ecosystem restoration. As part of that campaign, the company opened Plan B Garden at Bukseoul Dream Forest in Gangbuk-gu in May last year, creating a new habitat for bees losing their homes to urbanization and climate change, and contributing to biodiversity conservation.

Plan B Garden was designed as a shared space for both citizens and bees. A diverse mix of plants ensures continuous blooming from spring through autumn, providing bees with a stable environment for nectar and pollen collection while offering visitors a landscape that changes with each season. The garden also runs ecological education programs to help citizens understand the importance of biodiversity.

Participants in an urban beekeeping vocational training program pose for a photo at Plan B Garden, created by Hyundai Engineering at Bukseoul Dream Forest in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul. [Hyundai Engineering]

Plan B Garden is also opening doors to independence for marginalized youth who fall outside the welfare safety net. Hyundai Engineering provides vocational training in urban beekeeping — covering bee habitat management, garden upkeep and honey harvesting — to people with borderline intellectual functioning, supporting their growth as contributing members of society. In this way, a single garden serves as a habitat for bees, an ecological space for citizens and a self-sufficiency training ground for disadvantaged youth.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Engineering opened the second Plan B Garden at Boramae Park in Dongjak-gu in May this year. A third location is planned for next year, bringing the total to three gardens, through which the company intends to consistently advance biodiversity conservation and support for the self-reliance of marginalized communities.

According to Hyundai Engineering's sustainability report, the company is pursuing sustainable growth by embedding ESG (environmental, social and governance) management across all corporate activities rather than treating it as a one-off initiative. In 2024, it established a new monitoring framework to prevent greenwashing and conducted company-wide training to deepen employees' practical understanding of and commitment to ESG principles.

"Plan B Garden is a public-interest garden that combines urban ecosystem restoration, support for the self-reliance of socially vulnerable groups, and citizen-participatory ecological education," a Hyundai Engineering official said. "We will continue to develop a sustainable social contribution model grounded in the value of space and energy."

hss@heraldcorp.com