Full-Scale Launch of Gwangcheon Terminal Mixed-Use Project... Gwangju City and Gwangju Shinsegae Conclude Preliminary Negotiations

149.7 Billion Won in Public Contributions Secured... Agreement on Urban Planning Changes
12.9 Billion Won In Kind, 136.8 Billion Won in Cash... 1.8 Times the Original Proposal
Creation of a Compact City for Work, Residence, Culture, and Medical Services, a “Work-Residence-Leisure” Hub

Spatial Reorganization with Underground Terminal and Department Store Expansion
Traffic Measures Including a Dedicated Underground Road
Construction to Begin by Late 2026... Completion in 2033

The Gwangju Gwangcheon Terminal mixed-use development project has completed preliminary negotiations on the urban planning change and will now move into full-scale development. The Gwangju Metropolitan City Government and Gwangju Shinsegae have agreed to secure 149.7 billion won in public contributions.

On February 3, based on advice from the Joint Urban and Architecture Committee, the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government announced that it had completed preliminary negotiations with Gwangju Shinsegae Co., Ltd., following conditional approval of the preliminary proposal for changes to the urban plan related to development of the Gwangcheon Terminal (bus terminal) site. Accordingly, the “Gwangcheon Terminal Mixed-Use Development Project Plan” submitted by Gwangju Shinsegae has been finalized.

On the afternoon of the 7th, passengers were waiting for buses in the concourse inside Gwangju Gwangcheon Terminal (Yusquare). Photo by Song Bohyeon

The total scale of public contributions derived from this preliminary negotiation is 149.7 billion won. This amount corresponds to 45.34% of the 330.2 billion won increase in land value, which was calculated based on an appraisal of the 101,150-square-meter site. The public contributions will be provided in kind in the amount of 12.9 billion won and in cash in the amount of 136.8 billion won. This is about 1.8 times higher than the 82.8 billion won originally proposed by Gwangju Shinsegae.

Gwangju Shinsegae plans to reorganize Gwangcheon Terminal into a mixed urban space that combines transportation facilities with commercial and cultural functions. The company intends to create a complex space by introducing the concept of a “compact city for work, residence, and leisure,” integrating work, residential, cultural, commercial, medical, and educational functions.

The existing bus boarding, alighting, and concourse functions will be integrated and relocated underground, while a large-scale mixed-use complex will be built above ground, including an expanded department store, a hotel, and cultural and office facilities. After demolishing all existing facilities on the Gwangcheon Terminal site except the current Shinsegae Department Store, the land will be reorganized into the “bus terminal site,” which will house the department store and a 35-story bus terminal building, and the “mixed-use facilities site,” which will accommodate residential, medical, and educational facilities. The first basement level of the two sites will be connected by a single-level circulation plan.

Layout of the Original and Revised Plans for the Gwangju Gwangcheon Terminal (U-Square) Mixed-Use Project.

On the bus terminal site, a bus terminal combined with a new wing of the department store and a large sunken plaza will be built, along with a variable-type multi-purpose performance hall with about 650 seats, a five-star hotel with about 200 rooms, and an observatory 180 meters high. The work facilities will include conference rooms capable of hosting international conferences and a forest library, and the space will be used to integrate performance, tourism, and shopping functions.

On the mixed-use facilities site, there will be a residential-commercial complex and neighborhood living facilities, as well as medical facilities such as a health promotion center and a general hospital, a Shinsegae directly operated nursing facility, an international school offering overseas-degree-linked programs, and an artificial intelligence education institution.

To reduce traffic congestion resulting from the mixed-use development project, the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government will simultaneously implement traffic improvement measures for the Gwangcheon area. A new underground road will be built, 187 meters long and 12 meters wide, with two lanes in both directions, directly connecting Mujin-daero and Gwangcheon Terminal, and all express and intercity buses will be required to use this underground road. General vehicles will also be allowed to use this road, and part of the construction cost for the underground road will be recognized as an in-kind public contribution.

In addition, the city plans to relocate the city bus stop in front of Gwangcheon Terminal to a median bus lane and open an internal through-road that will serve both as a taxi boarding and alighting area and a pickup zone, thereby improving access to the terminal and the department store. Furthermore, the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government has agreed through negotiations that Gwangju Shinsegae will share part of the project cost for the “Sangmu–Gwangcheon Line of the urban railway,” and plans to conclude a detailed agreement after the line is reflected in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s urban railway network construction plan and a preliminary feasibility study is completed.

The Gwangju Metropolitan City Government and Gwangju Shinsegae plan to conduct a traffic impact assessment this year, establish and promulgate a district unit plan, and then proceed step by step with the building permitting process, with the goal of starting construction by the end of this year. The target completion date is 2033.

Meanwhile, on the morning of February 5, the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government will sign an investment memorandum of understanding with Gwangju Shinsegae at City Hall to implement an investment plan worth 3 trillion won.

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