O Se-hoon's 'Yeouido Financial Hub' Blueprint Revealed... Floor Area Ratio Up to 1200%

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has unveiled a blueprint containing urban planning support measures to elevate Yeouido into an international digital financial hub.

On the 24th, Seoul announced that it will establish the ‘Yeouido Financial Hub District Unit Plan (draft)’ and begin public inspection and announcement from the 25th. Earlier in January, through the ‘2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan,’ the city declared the creation of an international digital financial district and a Han River-centered global innovation core. The newly prepared district unit plan is a concrete implementation plan based on the announcement made by Mayor Oh Se-hoon during his European trip in March. It targets the eastern Yeouido area, where financial institutions are concentrated (1,120,586㎡), and includes provisions such as upgrading zoning districts, providing floor area ratio incentives, and relaxing height restrictions.

Currently, the Yeouido area is home to the Financial Supervisory Service, 28 major securities firms, and financial investment companies. It has developed as a financial hub since being designated as a comprehensive financial center in 2009 and a financial specific development promotion district in 2010. However, concerns have been raised regarding the traditional finance-centered industrial ecosystem, lack of diversity in urban functions leading to weekend and nighttime desolation, frequent vehicle entrances, vehicle-oriented urban spaces such as outdoor parking lots, and a shortage of open and public spaces, indicating a need for improvements to foster better financial investment conditions.

In response, Seoul plans to support the development of an international financial hub through this district unit plan by ▲ creating favorable financial investment conditions and actively introducing financial functions ▲ diversifying urban functions ▲ establishing a pedestrian-centered urban environment ▲ and creating a world-class waterfront urban landscape.

To this end, the city divided the district unit planning area into four zones?International Financial Hub Zone, Financial Business Support Zone, Downtown Function Support Zone, and Downtown Residential Complex Zone?considering the usage status and locational characteristics of Yeouido. It devised appropriate spatial planning directions for each zone and conceptualized the overall space in terms of building floor area ratio, height, and use.

First, Seoul designated the Financial Specific Development Promotion District within the ‘International Financial Hub Zone’ as an area where zoning can be upgraded from general commercial to central commercial district. Accordingly, it will become the third central commercial district in Seoul after Myeongdong and Sangam-dong, with a floor area ratio of up to 1000%. Especially, if eco-friendly, creative, and innovative designs are applied, the floor area ratio can be further relaxed to over 1200%, thereby enhancing investment conditions.

If the general commercial district designation is maintained, introducing recommended industries according to the ‘Financial Specific Development Promotion District Promotion Plan’ approved and announced in March will allow a differential floor area ratio relaxation of up to 1.2 times depending on the introduction ratio, aiming to expand financial-related spaces. Recommended industries include traditional financial sectors such as insurance and banking, as well as fintech sectors integrating IT.

Additionally, by integrating urban functions such as commercial and residential uses along with office facilities, the plan aims to alleviate weekend and nighttime desolation and improve residential environments to support the financial industry. The ‘Financial Business Support Zone,’ located behind the Financial Specific Development Promotion District, is planned to encourage financial facilities, financial support facilities, and commercial spaces to strengthen the financial ecosystem, designating financial and support facilities as recommended uses.

The ‘Downtown Function Support Zone’ minimizes restrictions on building uses to allow various locations for public, living convenience, and residential functions necessary for downtown activities. The school site, which expired in June 2020, can be upgraded from a second-class residential area (up to 7 floors) to a quasi-residential area.

The ‘Downtown Residential Complex Zone,’ which includes four apartment complexes undergoing redevelopment, is designated as a special planning zone, providing minimum planning standards to allow for separate future plans. Furthermore, to create a pedestrian-centered, walkable urban environment, the plan introduces open green spaces, installs public pedestrian pathways, and plans a three-dimensional pedestrian network centered on railway stations and underground passages. Open green spaces (such as publicly accessible spaces) will be introduced along major streets connecting the Han River and Saetgang to foster a green ecological urban center.

Moreover, the creation of public pedestrian pathways connecting disconnected urban streets and the establishment of street malls along major streets will generate pedestrian-centered street vitality. The plan also proposes connecting underground spaces of buildings centered on railway stations and underground passages to build a three-dimensional pedestrian network.

In addition, as a symbolic scenic point along the Han River, the plan aims to induce supertall buildings centered on the Financial Specific Development Promotion District (financial hub) and introduce creative and innovative designs to form a three-dimensional landscape, enabling the creation of a world-class waterfront urban landscape. The plan encourages supertall buildings over 350 meters centered on the Financial Specific Development Promotion District and allows further relaxation of height restrictions. Considering that Park One, the tallest building in Yeouido, is currently 333 meters, height regulations within the Financial Specific Development Promotion District are effectively abolished.

Seoul will disclose the Yeouido Financial Hub District Unit Plan (draft) containing these details to the public through a public inspection announcement until the 8th. After completing strategic environmental impact assessments and traffic impact assessments, the plan will undergo review by the city’s Urban Architecture Joint Committee, with official announcement expected by the end of this year.

Cho Nam-jun, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Urban Planning Bureau, said, “Yeouido is one of the downtown areas in Seoul where various projects such as the Financial Hub District Unit Plan, apartment district unit plans, and the Second Sejong Cultural Center are being simultaneously promoted, requiring flexible planning. Through the Yeouido Financial Hub District Unit Plan, we hope Yeouido will break away from a regulation-centered paradigm and leap forward as an international digital financial hub.”

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