First Public Disclosure in 64 Years of Seoul City Review... On-Site Visit to Confirm 'Abolition of the 35-Story Rule'

'12th Dogye Committee Meeting', Pilot Release of 2 out of 6 Agenda Items

The "12th Urban Planning Committee" held on the 30th of last month publicly disclosed the review process of some agenda items to citizens for the first time. The committee members participated in the review while watching monitors at a U-shaped table. Photo by Seoul City Hall

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] "(This Urban Planning Committee) is the first time the Urban Planning Committee, which has been held since 1958, has been made public. After a year of expert legal review, we decided to hold an open meeting. Through this pilot disclosure, we will strive to provide information fairly and transparently. Let's begin the 12th Urban Planning Committee. Tap tap tap" (Han Jehyeon, Deputy Mayor for Administration 2, Seoul Metropolitan Government)

At around 2 p.m. on the 30th of last month, the 12th Urban Planning Committee (hereinafter referred to as UPC) was held at the Seoul Urban Architecture Center with the sound of a wooden gavel. Unlike before, this UPC was conducted by publicly disclosing part of the agenda review process to citizens. About 20 committee members sat at a U-shaped table, preparing for agenda review while looking at the monitors in front of them.

Out of approximately 45 citizens recruited by the city from the 18th to the 22nd of last month, 36 attended on this day. The UPC review proceeded with the relevant department heads presenting the agenda via PPT for each item, followed by questions and answers from the committee members.

Out of the six agenda items submitted that day, only two were disclosed to the public. The disclosed agendas were the first item, "2040 Seoul Basic Urban Plan," and the second item, "2030 Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Basic Plan." The city decided to disclose these two items because they were not highly contentious, posed no risk to public interest, and were closely connected to citizens' daily lives. After the review, the first agenda was approved as originally proposed, and the second was approved with modifications.

Many citizens attended the '12th Urban Planning Committee,' which was opened to the general public for the first time. The photo shows the seats prepared for the audience./Photo by Seoul City Hall

At 2:03 p.m., Kim Yonghak, head of the Urban Planning Division, began presenting the first agenda. In March this year, the city announced the 2040 Seoul Basic Urban Plan, which abolished the 35-floor height restriction on apartments. This plan presents the future vision of "My Livable Seoul, Everyone's Seoul in the World" and includes seven major goals, sectoral strategic plans, spatial plans, and regional plans to realize this vision.

The plan also includes revisions made after various opinion-gathering procedures since the March announcement. Notably, the addition of "carbon neutrality" finalized the seven major goals. The seven goals are ▲Creating pedestrian-friendly daily zones ▲Reorganizing waterfront-centered spaces ▲Three-dimensional infrastructure ▲Innovation of central functions ▲Future transportation infrastructure ▲Carbon-neutral safe city ▲Urban planning paradigm shift.

As the Seoul Basic Urban Plan serves as the highest-level spatial plan guiding various plans the city will pursue, intense questions and answers followed among the committee members. One member said, "The central system is set around three downtowns, seven metropolitan centers, and twelve regional centers, but this needs to change in the future," adding, "With the arrival of the 3rd generation new towns, Seoul may need edge cities, or an entirely different system could be created."

Another member expressed concern that the term "flexibilization" of zoning districts could cause confusion and suggested modifying the term to something like "principled flexibilization." More than 15 members participated in the Q&A before the chair summarized that the issues raised would be discussed thoroughly and asked members whether they agreed with the agenda. The agenda was approved as originally proposed. If there were no objections from members, it was passed. Due to the extended Q&A, the first agenda review ended around 3:33 p.m.

On the first floor, the members of the Urban Planning Committee and the department head related to the agenda held a meeting, while on the second floor, seats were arranged for citizens to observe./Photo by Seoul City Hall

Immediately afterward, Jung Hoe-won, head of the Urban Core Re-creation Division, presented the second agenda. To support a city growing through the complexification of central functions, the plan expanded maintenance zones considering the characteristics of Seoul's urban core and outlying areas, adjusted inducement uses by region according to the basic plan, and rationally adjusted public contributions based on zone conditions. Plans for green urban cores, such as establishing green spaces in the urban core and introducing urban core residential types, were included, along with incentives related to height and floor area ratio.

As this is the basic direction for urban maintenance-type redevelopment projects, questions and answers continued. One member asked how the approximately 40% of redevelopment non-implementation districts would be handled and how infrastructure burdens would be managed if redevelopment was desired again in completed districts (re-redevelopment). Director Jung responded that these matters would be considered.

After about ten questions, the chair asked for consent to approve the agenda with modifications. One member emphasized again the need to include supplementary content regarding "parking installation standards," which was raised during the Q&A. The chair said, "We will add supplementary content on this," asked for consent again, and with no objections, the agenda was approved with modifications. The remaining agendas, starting from 4:41 p.m., were conducted privately.

The citizens who attended that day mostly described the pilot disclosure of the UPC as a positive experience. Mr. Song (41), who works in a related field, said, "This is the first time the committee has been transparently disclosed," and added, "As a citizen, I think this is positive." Ms. Lee (30) also said, "It was meaningful for citizens to directly see the review process." However, Ms. Lee expressed regret that "although it was disclosed, I wished the process had been more concise, but the time was too long."

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