Civil-Government-Academic Cooperation to Prevent Random Development on Mudeungsan, Proposal Submitted to Gwangju City

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop receives a proposal to prevent indiscriminate development on Mudeungsan from Heo Min, chairman of the public-private-government council for preventing indiscriminate development on Mudeungsan, on the 5th. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 5th that the ‘Public-Private-Government-Academic Council for Preventing Reckless Development of Mudeungsan’ delivered a petition for the public ownership of Mudeungsan.

The ‘Public-Private-Government-Academic Council for Preventing Reckless Development of Mudeungsan’ was launched on the 28th of last month to preserve Mudeungsan with the goal of public interest and to refrain from reckless development for private gain.

On this day, the petition was delivered to Mayor Lee Yong-seop by two of the four co-representatives representing 25 council members: Chairman Heo Min and Professor Lee In-hwa of the Department of Environmental Engineering at Chosun University.

Chairman Heo Min requested, “To prevent reckless development caused by the townhouse development project on the site of Shinyang Park Hotel, Gwangju City should actively seek plans for public ownership and utilization.”

Through the petition, the council stated, “Mudeungsan has been established as an asset not only for 1.5 million citizens of Gwangju but also for the people of South Korea and the world, as well as a heritage to be passed on to future generations, through its designation as a national park and UNESCO Global Geopark certification. A public consensus on the need for the public ownership of Mudeungsan has also been formed.”

They added, “Regarding Gwangju City’s urban planning policies, this public ownership initiative should serve as an opportunity to promote future Gwangju-style urban landscape preservation centered on Mudeungsan, foster an eco-friendly city through green new deal urban planning, and enhance the competitiveness of the city center.”

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Following the public discussion on Urban Railway Line 2, the Gwangju-type job created through labor-management-government consensus, the operation of public-private governance related to the private park special project, and the COVID-19 public-private joint countermeasure committee, it is very meaningful that the reckless development issue of Mudeungsan is also being resolved through public-private-government-academic cooperation. Moving forward, I ask the council to play a central role in ensuring that alternatives are sought through sufficient communication with citizens regarding the utilization of the site.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.