Busan Citizens Park
A large civic park in central Busan created on the former Camp Hialeah military base, with lawns, streams, play areas and preserved traces of the site's previous uses
Walking, picnics, family play, fountains, casual exercise, public events and exploring the history of the former Camp Hialeah site
A broad, mostly level park organized around lawns, waterways, plazas, wooded areas and family facilities, with a separate history museum and surviving military-era features within the grounds
Busan gained a major public park in 2014 on land that had been separated from the surrounding city for decades. The history center and surviving base elements keep that earlier use visible inside an everyday green space
Character
For decades, this central Busan tract was closed to ordinary residents as a military site. Camp Hialeah shut in 2006, and Busan Citizens Park opened in 2014 with lawns, streams and play spaces alongside reminders of the land's earlier uses
A civic movement to return the base to Busan gathered momentum in the 1990s. Relocation and transfer agreements followed; the city took over management in 2010 and developed the park around James Corner's “Alluvium” plan, selected through an international competition
Some military-era structures and the park's history center remain within the new landscape. They sit beside lawns, streams, play areas and paths used for ordinary recreation
The experience
The park is broad and largely flat, with two streams crossing a network of paths and lawns. The main visitor areas include lawns, play spaces, gardens, exercise areas and wooded sections, while the history center gives context to the former base
For the former-base story, include the history center and the surviving military-era structures. A shorter visit can focus on the streams, lawns and play areas
History
Before it became a civic park, the site passed through several controlled uses. Parts of the area were used for horse racing during the Japanese colonial period and later by the Japanese military. After liberation, the U.S. military occupied the site as Camp Hialeah, which became a logistics base and remained separated from the surrounding city for decades
Calls to return the land to Busan gathered force in the 1990s. A relocation agreement followed in the early 2000s, Camp Hialeah closed in 2006, and Busan assumed management in 2010. The city then remade the former base as a large public park, opening Busan Citizens Park on 1 May 2014
Before you go
This is a large park rather than a single attraction, so plan around the part of the grounds you want to use. The history center adds the most context if the former-base story matters to you; lawns and play areas work as a simpler park visit
Bujeon Station is the most useful rail anchor, while Seomyeon is a practical approach from the western side. The park has several entrances, so the final walk depends on which part of the grounds you want to reach first
- Hours
- Busan Citizens Park is open daily 05:00–24:00
- Admission
- Admission to Busan Citizens Park is free
- Access
- Cooking is prohibited in the park. Pets are allowed when leashed, and owners must remove pet waste
- Transit
- Bujeon Station on Busan Metro Line 1 is the main subway approach; use the park-facing exits and continue on foot