A Scoping Review of Empirical Research on Green Infrastructure in South Korea: Focusing on Spatial Dimension and Methodological Approaches

Background and objective: Rapid urbanization in South Korea has intensified environmental concerns such as surface sealing, urban heat accumulation, and ecological degradation. Green Infrastructure (GI) has been adopted as a spatial strategy to address these issues. However, existing empirical studies remain fragmented by spatial scale and methodology. This study conducts a scoping review to synthesize research trends and identify how GI functions are examined across diverse analytical contexts. Methods: Using identification, screening, and inclusion procedures, 31 empirical studies were selected from 4,294 records retrieved from the Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) database. The selected studies were classified according to research context, including spatial level, types of GI elements, and methodological approach, and were subsequently analyzed to identify thematic patterns. Results: GI research was concentrated in metropolitan regions, where data availability and environmental pressures are relatively high. The analytical scale was closely associated with the types of GI elements examined: large parks and wetlands at the metropolitan level, low impact development (LID) facilities and river corridors at the municipal level, and gardens and biotopes at the sub-municipal level. Accordingly, functional themes also varied by spatial scale ranging from hydrologic regulation and climatic mitigation to particulate matter reduction and user-centered experiences. Methodologically,GIS-based analyses were used to examine spatial distribution; hydrological modeling assessed stormwater runoff and infiltration processes; field monitoring documented operational changes; indicator-based analyses structured environmental performance metrics; and sociocultural approaches addressed user perceptions and accessibility. Conclusion: Empirical studies on GI in South Korea have primarily focused on environmental aspects, while social and economic dimensions have been comparatively less examined. The strong concentration of study sites in the Seoul metropolitan area indicates limited regional representativeness. To more comprehensively capture the diverse functions and context-specific characteristics of GI, future research should incorporate broader spatial coverage and adopt multi-method.