Gwangju City Prepares and Implements Innovation Measures for the Urban Planning Committee

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 15th that it plans to establish and implement innovative measures to ensure transparency, substantive review, and efficient operation regarding the composition and operation of the Urban Planning Committee.

To secure transparency in the committee's composition, the city plans to revise the total number of appointments and the number of possible reappointments by referring to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's local urban planning committee guidelines, thereby expanding participation opportunities so that many urban planning experts can join the committee.

The Ministry of Land guidelines limit the total number of appointments for a member to three times and reappointments to twice.

Additionally, to ensure transparency and objectivity in the review process, members who have contacted stakeholders related to the review will be excluded or recused from meetings, and if fairness is compromised due to failure to recuse, the member will be dismissed.

Since expert review with extensive knowledge and experience is crucial in the urban planning field, the current pre-meeting review by the applying department and the committee's preliminary review will be supplemented by expert review from the Standing Planning Group, resulting in a total of three stages of pre-review.

The Standing Planning Group is an expert group in urban planning established under Article 116 of the Act on the Planning and Use of National Territory and Article 87 of the Urban Planning Ordinance, providing advice on metropolitan urban plans, basic urban plans, urban management plans, and the Urban Planning Committee. Currently, the recruitment process for the head of the Standing Planning Group is underway, and one researcher has already been hired and is performing related duties.

Furthermore, since urban development projects determine project content, layout plans, and infrastructure plans according to site conditions, understanding the site situation is paramount. Therefore, as a principle, on-site investigations of review items will be conducted, and problems will be identified before the review to recommend that project operators establish countermeasures.

Also, to enhance citizens' understanding of urban planning and strengthen citizen rights, the city plans to guarantee the speaking rights of complainants and other stakeholders, allowing them to express difficulties and opinions during committee reviews.

The meeting date, agenda, and location will be announced on the website three days before the meeting to inform citizens and stakeholders, striving to ensure transparency. Review results will be disclosed immediately after the meeting ends, and minutes will be made public 30 days later according to relevant regulations.

Due to the expert nature of the urban planning field, some unavoidable aspects exist, but to prevent gender imbalance, the city plans to consider revising ordinances to relax restrictions on appointing female members in fields other than urban planning, such as architecture, environment, culture, and landscape.

Lee Sang-bae, Director of the City Urban Regeneration Bureau, stated, “This innovation plan follows Mayor Lee Yong-seop’s directive at the executive meeting on February 9 to prepare innovative measures for the Urban Planning Committee. It will be submitted to the first Urban Planning Committee meeting in 2021 for in-depth discussion by members, finalizing operational rules, and considering ordinance amendments if necessary.”

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