This study evaluated the ornamental and commercial potential of <italic>Hibiscus syriacus</italic> cultivars by analyzing 126 new varieties registered under the Plant Variety Protection and Commercialization Systems (PVPCS). The analysis covered registration status, cultivar traits, landscape utilization, and market trends in the United States and Europe. Registration types included Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBRs), Plant Patents (PLPs), Registered Trademarks (®), and Commercial Listings (COM). The highest registration rates were observed in the Netherlands (41.2%), followed by the United States (23.0%) and the European Union (20.3%), indicating strong market demand and awareness of plant variety protection in these regions. Notably, cultivars such as ’Notwood3’, ’JWNWOOD4’, and ’DVPazurri’ were registered in multiple countries, reflecting a global strategy for securing intellectual property rights. The primary selection criteria were flower characteristics (47.3%), followed by tree form (12.2%), blooming (11.3%), and sterility (8.5%). In contrast, functional traits such as disease resistance and ease of cultivation were less emphasized, suggesting a breeding trend focused on ornamental and landscape values. Landscape applications showed that <italic>H. syriacus</italic> is widely used for hedges and screening (19.45%), specimen and accent planting (18.6%), and mixed borders (17.5%), with increasing use in urban gardens, vertical spaces, and ecological designs. Trademark analysis revealed that Chiffon^® (9 cultivars) and Satin® (7 cultivars) series dominated the U.S. market. In the U.S., trademarked dwarf (Lil’ Kim® series, Pollypetite^®), double-flowered (Chiffon^® series), variegated foliage (Sugar Tip^®), columnar (Purple Pillar^®), and large-flowered (Paraplu^®) cultivars were prevalent. In contrast, the European market preferred both trademarked cultivars and traditional unregistered varieties such as ’Oiseau Bleu’, ’Red Heart’, and ’Woodbridge’. These findings highlight the importance of region-specific breeding and commercialization strategies tailored to landscape trends, consumer preferences, and legal frameworks. Future cultivar development should balance aesthetic appeal with ecological sustainability to expand the global presence of <italic>H. syriacus</italic> as landscape plants.

The new Hibiscus syriacus cultivar 'Samilhong' was developed to address the growing demand for compact, refined ornamental shrubs suitable for contemporary urban landscapes and container cultivation.Through controlled hybridization and successive selection, 'Samilhong' consistently exhibits a stable dwarf and compact growth habit, dense branching, and a well-proportioned canopy throughout its developmental stages, differentiating it from the paternal parent and control cultivar, 'Samchulli.'At five years of age, 'Samilhong' has a significantly reduced height (122.0 5.7 cm) and a lower shape index (0.85 0.09), indicative of restrained vertical growth and enhanced manageability.With regard to its leaf morphology, 'Samilhong' is characterized by longer, narrower leaves with more deeply lobed margins, contributing to fine-textured foliage.Distinctive floral characteristics comprise a smaller flower diameter, a more vivid and elongated red eye spot, and narrower, undulate petals with slight overlap (I-b), which collectively confer an intricate and graceful appearance compared with the compact floral form of 'Samchulli.' 'Samilhong' exhibits extended individual flower longevity of approximately 54 h, nearly three times that of 'Samchulli,' coupled with consistently prolific flower production.The new cultivar exhibits robust adaptability to diverse environmental conditions, including tolerance to heat, drought, and partial shade.It is readily propagated clonally via cuttings, maintaining genetic stability across generations.For the commercialization of 'Samilhong', plant variety protection in Korea was secured in 2015, European Community plant variety rights were granted in 2023, and a U.S. plant patent was approved in 2024.The cultivar has been introduced to the European market under the trade name 'Little Legends Pink.'This study records the first instance of a Korean-developed H. syriacus cultivar achieving simultaneous intellectual property protection in Korea, the United States, and Europe, thereby attesting to its substantial ornamental appeal, ecological resilience, and international market competitiveness as a premium cultivar for contemporary landscape applications.

Understanding how urban parks are utilized and perceived by the public is crucial for effective urban planning and management. This study introduces a novel dataset derived from Instagram, using 42,187 images tagged with #Seoul and #Park hashtags from 2017 to 2023. These images were filtered using InternLM-XComposer2, a Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM), to confirm they depicted park scenes. GPT-4 then annotated the filtered images, resulting in 29,866 valid image annotations of physical elements, human activities, animals, and emotions. The dataset is publicly available at https://huggingface.co/datasets/RedBall/seoul-urban-park-analysis-by-llm.

The ongoing Yongsan Park development project began in 1988 with the development of a utilization plan for the US Army base in Yongsan after the Army relocation. This study aimed to draw implications for the Yongsan Park project by focusing on Yongsan Family Park. Among the public records of Yongsan Park and Yongsan Family Park transferred to the Seoul Metropolitan Archives, 53 major records were analyzed. The results are as follows. First, Yongsan Family Park, built on the site of the US Army golf course in 1992, was considered a part of the Yongsan Park plan and holds status as the first phase of the Yongsan Park project. Second, despite its status, Yongsan Family Park opened as a temporary park occupied by urban facilities. A design and detailed roadmap of the development process is necessary to make Yongsan Park more resilient. Third, organizing and systematizing public records is necessary because lessons learned through past park development processes can be applied to the current project. This study is meaningful since it uncovered important issues of urban planning discussed in the process of Yongsan Family Park development through a complete analysis of public records, examined the linkage between Yongsan Family Park, which was not known until now, and the ongoing Yongsan Park project, and reaffirmed the importance of park archiving for long-term development projects.

본 연구는 “평택역 광장 조성 국제설계공모”를 통해 사람 중심 광장의 설계 방향을 제시하는것을 목적으로 삼았다. 시민들의 편의 및 보행 환경을 개선하고 주변 도시발전 및 재생계획과 통합적으로 연계될 수 있는 방향을 제시하고자 하였다. 현재 평택역 광장이 가진 문제점을 분석한뒤 평택 시민이 요구하는 문화체험의 광장, 선행연구와 사람 중심 도시 설계 원칙에서 중요시하는 보행 중심의 광장, 편의시설 및 녹지가 풍부한 광장, 상징성 및 장소성을 갖춘 광장을 조성하기 위해 네 가지 설계 전략을 수립하였다. 첫째, 현재 차량 동선으로 분절되어 있는 광장을 하나의 광장으로 통합하고 모든 차량의 접근을 광장의 경계로 배치하였다. 둘째, 지상 보행 연결을 통해 사람들이 광장에서 주변 지역으로 손쉽게 이동할 수 있도록 하였다. 셋째, 광장의 중앙을 비우고 실내 공간을 담은 캐노피를 둘러 사계절 다양한 활동이 가능하며, 평택시의 상징이 될 수 있도록 하였다. 넷째, 주변 지역으로 녹지 네트워킹이 가능하도록 숲과 수목을 주변과 연계하여 배치하였다. 본 논문을 통해 평택시의 발전을 견인했던 평택역 광장이 현재의 기능 중심 역할에서 벗어나 사람을 중심에 둔 사회적, 문화적 장소로 재활성화될 수 있는 가능성을 탐색하였다.