Oh Se-hoon Announces '2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan'... Why Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-oh Expressed 'Welcome'?

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's March 3 Announcement of the '2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan' Immediately Welcomed by Seongdong-gu the Next Day... Seen as a Decision Considering the Need for Seoul City's Cooperation on Han Riverfront Development in Seongsu-dong and Sampo Remicon Relocation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong District, drew attention by expressing his welcome on the 4th regarding the ‘2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan’ announced by Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 3rd.

Mayor Jung stated on the 4th, the day after Mayor Oh announced the 2040 Urban Master Plan, “I positively evaluate that many urban planning policies that had faced limitations have found a breakthrough,” expressing his welcome.

Seoul City announced the ‘2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan,’ which will serve as a guideline for various urban plans to be promoted by Seoul until 2040, along with six spatial plans aimed at improving citizens’ quality of life and strengthening Seoul’s urban competitiveness.

By introducing the innovative concept of ‘Beyond-zoning,’ which completely reorganizes the current zoning system mainly divided into residential, commercial, industrial, and green areas, a foundation was laid for three-dimensional and complex development of urban spaces.

In particular, the plan includes abolishing the so-called ‘35-floor height limit’ applied to riverside apartments along the Han River over the past eight years.

Regarding this, Mayor Jung said, “Through interviews, I have stated that by abolishing the ‘35-floor height limit’ while keeping the floor area ratio the same but lowering the building coverage ratio, it is possible to create various skylines that satisfy the high-density development demand along the Han River while securing views.”

Seongdong District, located along the Han River in the so-called ‘Mayongseong’ area including Mapo and Yongsan Districts, appears to be the region that will benefit the most according to Seoul City’s 2040 plan.

Especially, following this announcement, the ‘Seongsu area,’ which will serve as the starting point of the ‘Youth Advanced Axis’ among the ‘Four New Growth Innovation Axes,’ is rapidly growing with new growth industries such as ICT, digital content, and nano (NT) industries centered on the Seongsu IT Industry Distribution Promotion District, and Seongdong District is establishing a promotion plan to foster these new growth industries.

Additionally, the Seongsu Strategic Maintenance Zone, designated as part of the Han River Renaissance Project, had been developing a maintenance plan since 2011 and promoting the project but faced difficulties due to the ‘35-floor height limit’ regulation.

Mayor Jung said, “With the ‘2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan,’ we expect new momentum for the previously somewhat stalled Seongsu Strategic Maintenance Zone project,” emphasizing, “We will do our best to ensure the project proceeds smoothly through continuous agreements with Seoul City and will also cooperate generously in creating Seoul’s green future city blueprint.”

Moreover, Mayor Jung faces a major challenge of resolving the relocation of the Sampyo Remicon factory in Seongsu-dong, which was agreed upon during former Mayor Park Won-soon’s administration among Seoul City, Hyundai Motor Group, and Seongdong District.

Therefore, cooperation from Mayor Oh is more crucial than ever. During the 5th local government term, Mayor Ko Jae-duk of Seongdong District worked tirelessly to attract Hyundai Motor’s headquarters building to the Sampyo Remicon site but was unable to achieve this due to former Mayor Park Won-soon’s policy prohibiting super-high-rise buildings along the Han River, which was regrettable.

Mayor Jung is well aware that regional development is difficult without Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s assistance. When Seongdong and nearby Gwangjin Districts were separated in 1995, Gwangjin was three times more developed than Seongdong, but as of 2022, this has reversed, with Seongdong being about six times more developed than Gwangjin.

This demonstrates that cooperation from Seoul City can have an absolute impact on the development of Seoul’s autonomous districts.

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