Gwangju City Councilor Lee Gwi-soon Points Out Allegations of Development on Jeonbang and Ilsin Textile Sites

Lee Gwisoon, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council (Gwangsan-gu 4), strongly criticized the suspicions related to the ‘Jeonbang·Ilsin Textile Site Development,’ which Gwangju City is prioritizing, as well as the current state of public transportation operations linked to citizens' walking rights.

Councilor Lee stated, “About a month after the abolition of floor restrictions, which was decided without a public discussion process with citizens, a project designed as a super high-rise was selected for the Jeonnam·Ilsin Textile site development,” and argued, “The Jeonbang·Ilsin Textile site development is a design that only considers the interests of private developers, disregarding the citizens.”

Lee Gwi-sun, Gwangju Metropolitan City Councilor.

He then revealed the ‘Jeonbang·Ilsin Textile Site Urban Planning Change Pre-Negotiation Progress Document’ and criticized, “It is questionable why the policy, which aimed to avoid residential-focused development and create a strategic central commercial district during the 7th elected term, suddenly changed upon entering the 8th elected term.”

He also stated, “Gwangju City must promptly establish differentiated and tiered height restriction measures by region,” and added, “The composition of the Urban Planning Committee, which holds the decision-making power, and the urban planning review process must be transparent and fair, and should be disclosed to the citizens.”

Furthermore, he pointed out, “Although a large amount of tax money is being supported to companies through the quasi-public operation system of city buses, the inconvenience of public transportation experienced by citizens is worsening day by day.”

He continued, “To resolve this, public transportation policies must be considered and discussed together with citizens’ walking and eco-friendly transportation means such as bicycles,” and insisted, “Basic databases on citizens’ walking must be included in the city bus route settings, and the bicycle budget must be significantly increased to promote green transportation.”

Mayor Kang Gijeong of Gwangju said, “In the urban landscape plan scheduled to be announced in May, we will specifically present guidelines for the key landscape management areas,” and added, “With the directive to ‘open the Urban Planning Committee,’ we are establishing three principles. We will ensure that the Urban Planning Committee strictly adheres to the principle of transparency.”

Councilor Lee said, “An incentive system should be introduced to increase the public transportation usage rate of city officials to over 50%,” and stated, “It is time for the executive branch to make bold decisions and push forward with initiatives such as introducing integrated public transportation passes and campaigns like car-free weekends to innovate Gwangju’s transportation.”

He added, “The city’s landmark for all citizens of Gwangju and the future will not be tall and flashy buildings, but a city that is good for walking and a city where people want to walk, which will become Gwangju’s unique landmark for all citizens.”

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