Park Young-sun: "Opposition Candidates Have No Vision"... Half-Price Apartments + Vertical Gardens on Underground Roads

In 21-Minute Compact City, Seoul-Style 'Vertical Garden' Landmark
Transformed into an Environmentally Friendly Living Space
Vertical Garden Created in Residential Area Priced at 10 Million KRW per Pyeong on Site of Gyeongbu Expressway Undergrounding

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] "The Mayor of Seoul should have not only a managerial mindset but also a mindset regarding public community, that is, publicness. However, opposition candidates have no vision for the future of Seoul." (Kim Eo-jun's News Factory)

"We will create a Seoul-style 'Vertical Garden' in a 21-minute compact city, simultaneously addressing housing, healthcare, and food supply to improve quality of life and solve environmental issues, taking a big step toward a carbon-neutral city." (Seoul's Great Transformation - 'Vertical Garden City' Policy Announcement)

Park Young-sun, former Minister of SMEs and Startups and a candidate in the Seoul mayoral by-election, criticized opposition candidates on the 9th for having 'no vision for the future' and revealed her vision for the future of Seoul.

On this day, former Minister Park announced the 'Vertical Garden City' plan as the third installment of the 'Seoul's Great Transformation' series, which she proposed as her election pledge for Seoul mayor.

The policy announcement, broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook, lasted about two hours with participation from experts from various fields including the Architectural Institute of Korea, the Korean Institute of Architects, and the Korean Society of Landscape Architects.

At the event, former Minister Park stated, "In a high-density city, we will verticalize parks and build a 'Vertical Garden Lighthouse,' a space combining single-person housing, offices, and smart farms, making it a landmark of the 21-minute compact city Seoul."

The '21-minute compact city' concept proposed by former Minister Park involves establishing 21 cities within Seoul, each equipped with infrastructure such as jobs, hospitals, residences, shopping, and culture within a 21-minute distance, aiming to enrich the lives of Seoul citizens.

She explained that vertical garden lighthouses will be established in these 21 multi-core cities to create environmentally friendly urban spaces.

According to the plan, in a high-density city, parks will be verticalized to create spiral walking paths with vertical trees suitable for exercise and strolls. Spaces combining single-person housing, offices, and smart farms will enable urban farmers' lifestyles. Additionally, this will transform the urban environment into green spaces, reduce the heat island effect, purify city air, and provide insulation effects for buildings.

In these vertical garden cities, priority will be given to youth, newlyweds, the elderly, essential workers, and the homeless. Public facilities such as emergency medical centers, small libraries, and care centers will be located on lower floors, while residential facilities will be on middle and upper floors, making the vertical garden lighthouse a future residential form in Seoul that enables one-stop healthcare especially for the elderly.

Former Minister Park emphasized plans to underground the Gyeongbu Expressway and establish such vertical garden lighthouses throughout the ground space.

She said, "If the Gyeongbu Expressway is undergrounded, a section about 6 km long from Hanam Bridge to Yangjae will create approximately 100,000 pyeong (about 330,000 square meters) of space. Of this, 50,000 pyeong will be used as parkland, and the remaining 50,000 pyeong will be developed into residential forms shaped like vertical garden lighthouses." She added, "Developing it as a vertical garden city will improve the living conditions of residents in nearby apartment complexes."

She also expressed confidence that the residential space built there could be publicly sold at 10 million KRW per pyeong.

Former Minister Park stated, "If the Gyeongbu Expressway is undergrounded, I can firmly say that public sales at 10 million KRW per pyeong will be possible, calculated based on a 100-year lease construction cost plus alpha under a land lease system."

When asked about the possibility of consolidating Seoul's 25 administrative districts under the plan to create 21 multi-core cities, she answered that it should be understood as a 'spatiotemporal concept.'

Regarding real estate policy, she announced a plan to supply 300,000 housing units and mentioned, "Next time, I plan to do a presentation focusing solely on this part (real estate)."

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