An Analysis of Research Trends Regarding Rooftop Greening in Korea

국내의 옥상녹화 연구 동향 분석

This study was to investigate and identify the trends and the direction of the researches related to the rooftop greening by analyzing the content of the studies published in Korea during the past two decades. Internet search was to collect data for this study, and the articles reviewed are limited to research journals, theses, and doctoral dissertations. The collected articles were then examined for content analysis and classified into several categories according to year, topic, and types of journals. The results showed that the total number of articles published in Korea for the period 1984-2004 was 97. While there was only one article in 1984, the number of articles has increased to 16 in 2000, 20 in 2003, and 16 in 2004 now. According to the analysis of the 97 data, there were 25 master's theses and 3 doctoral dissertations and 69 articles published in journals. Articles about rooftop greening were published most frequently in the Korea Institute of Landscape Architecture(11 articles), followed by Journal of Architectural Institute of Korea(8 articles) and Journal of Korea Society for Environment Restoration(7 articles).The studies regarding the rooftop greening has increased in number since the Ministry of Construction and Transportation made it possible to 10-15 cm shallow depth of soil in rooftop greening in 2000, which was above 100 cm before 2000. The articles examined are classified into four areas of research according to topic. The number of articles in each area is as follows : 57 articles in the field of the technology, 17 in the study of the plan and system, 10 in the case study, and 12 in the plant study, Particularly, the studies concerning technology are subdivided into the five areas and the number of each area is as follows : 25 studies for the plant base, 15 for design plan, 13 for the efficacy of the rooftop greening, 3 for the managing program, and 1 for the relation with buildings. Over the years, the studies for the rooftop greening have increased in number since these studies have made a positive effect on the improvement of the urban ecosystem and on the environment of the city lacking greens. However, the majority of research are for plant and planting base and those researches are not enough to make some effects on the improvement of the environment, it seems necessary to provide some system applicable to the field or to design practical study in order to contribute to the urban environment in Korea.