Seoul City Explores Utilization Plans for 'Development Restriction Zones' Over 50 Years Old... Service Project to Start in March

Seoul City is exploring ways to utilize the Greenbelt, a development-restricted area that has been designated and managed for over 50 years, to flexibly respond to rapid urban changes and alleviate residents' inconveniences.

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On the 6th, the city announced that it will commence a research project within this month to "establish efficient management and utilization plans for the Greenbelt." The purpose is to present changes reflecting local conditions and realities for the strictly maintained Greenbelt, laying the groundwork for a major urban space transformation.

The Greenbelt system was introduced in 1971 to prevent indiscriminate urban expansion and preserve the natural environment around cities. While it has the positive function of conserving nature and providing leisure and relaxation spaces for citizens, issues such as the deterioration of residential environments for local residents and widening development gaps with surrounding areas have been continuously raised.

Since the system's introduction, Seoul's Greenbelt has been designated twice, covering an area of 149.09㎢, accounting for 24.6% of the administrative district. Due to housing supply shortages and rising housing prices, many national projects have been promoted within the Greenbelt, and large-scale housing complexes and transit-oriented developments have been carried out in surrounding areas.

Accordingly, the city seeks to move away from the uniform standards of activity restrictions and natural environment preservation in the Greenbelt and explore new criteria based on an understanding of the changing urban space.

The appropriateness of unreasonable management standards within the Greenbelt will be analyzed and adjusted to fit current realities. Urban management plans will be prepared for areas that need to be released, such as those that have effectively urbanized. Comprehensive management plans, including the establishment of management plans tailored to regional characteristics, will also be developed.

To prepare a new urban space system that responds to contemporary changes and future demands, strategic development project target maps within the Greenbelt will also be reviewed. At a metropolitan level, the city plans to respond to Seoul's growth and changes by examining existing urban areas and regions with development conditions, proposing ways to utilize them strategically.

Future infrastructure and facility utilization plans, including development projects applicable within the limits that do not impair infrastructure capacity and landscape, will also be devised.

Yang Byung-hyun, Director of Urban Planning at Seoul City, said, "This opportunity will establish new perspectives and standards for the Greenbelt," adding, "Amid temporal and regional changes, we will propose spatial changes that resonate with local residents and align with urban growth and transformation, alleviating residents' inconveniences and laying the foundation for a major urban space overhaul."

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