‘Busan I Want to Live in Again’ ... Living Area Plan Takes First Step in West Busan Gangdong Area

Busan City plans to establish a citizen-tailored living zone plan suited to the region's characteristics to realize a "Busan where people want to live again," taking the first step in the Gangdong area.

2040 Busan Urban Master Plan (Living Area).

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This reflects the city's commitment to accelerating the development of West Busan and realizing balanced development between the east and west of Busan.

Since Mayor Park Hyung-jun took office in April 2021, the city has continuously worked to resolve the east-west imbalance and explore development plans for West Busan by holding 14 on-site meetings in West Busan and conducting on-site inspections.

West Busan consists of two medium living zones: Gangseo area (Gangseo-gu) and Gangdong area (Buk-gu, Sasang-gu, Saha-gu). Considering the degree of urban aging, the city will first start establishing the living zone plan in the Gangdong area.

The "living zone plan" subdivides the entire city into ▲6 zones (medium living zones) and ▲about 60 areas (small living zones) at the level of 2 to 3 administrative neighborhoods. It is a core plan for creating a "15-minute city Busan" by presenting development strategies and management plans for various fields such as housing, parks and green spaces, and industry by living zone, in addition to the basic urban plan.

Current urban planning has limitations in establishing spatial plans at the local level that reflect citizens' daily lives, but with this living zone plan, it is expected that the diversity of urban residents' lives can be reflected in urban planning.

The city will establish "development concepts and spatial management guidelines by living zone" included in the living zone plan to be used as guidelines when establishing various urban plans, and will also prepare plans and management measures for living social overhead capital (SOC) that citizens can directly experience in their daily lives.

This living zone plan establishment has gained stronger momentum compared to before, as the "Act on Planning and Use of National Land," which institutionalizes the urban planning innovation measures presented as a national agenda, was amended on February 6 to have the same status as the basic urban plan.

The first living zone plan to be established in the Gangdong area will concretize three major development strategies: ① improving the residential environment of aging residential areas, ② securing blue-green infrastructure utilizing mountains and waterfronts, and ③ structural advancement of aging industrial areas, aiming to create a spatial innovation hub where housing, leisure, and advanced industries harmonize.

Gangdong area is a region with geographical characteristics where residential areas, industrial areas, mountains, sea, and rivers are located. The city plans to comprehensively integrate plans that were previously established individually in various fields and establish a detailed and meticulous plan tailored to the characteristics of Gangdong that citizens can feel and empathize with.

In particular, this Gangdong living zone plan will move away from the existing top-down planning and prepare concrete development strategies and management plans for each living zone through communication between the public and private sectors by operating a citizen participation group led by residents and collecting opinions from basic local governments.

The city will form a citizen participation group and set small living zone areas, and will begin full-scale plan establishment from the end of March.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, "Balanced development between east and west is an indispensable condition for Busan to become a global hub city," adding, "Through the establishment of citizen-tailored living zone plans reflecting regional characteristics and residents' opinions, we will not only enhance residents' convenience and satisfaction but also accelerate balanced development between east and west to create a 'Busan where people want to live again,' and we will do our best to achieve this."

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