發布日期:2023-01-26 14:53:17
Seoul and the Han River are seen at dusk. With the Seoul Metropolitan Government's new city plan announced earlier this month, the skyline is anticipated to become more dynamic. Gettyimagesbank
By Ko Dong-hwan
Seoul City's ambitious development plan over the next 20 years is expected to change the capital's skyline, as the metropolitan government decided to scrap a 35-story height limit for residential buildings.
The 2040 Seoul City Basic Plan, announced on Jan. 5, presents the city government's new guidelines for future urban planning within the capital. The plan was motivated by two fundamental goals: to improve daily life in the city and to raise the city's global competitiveness by improving sustainability.
For instance, the plan calls for a reorganization of the city so that all residents can work and enjoy leisure activities within a 30-minute walking distance from their home. The city government dubs this principle "the right to enjoy daily activities within walking distance."
Another urban planning policy laid out in the new plan involves scrapping the present regulations that enforce height limits on new buildings. Apartment buildings are under construction in southern Seoul's Seocho District in this file photo. The city recently decided to scrap a 35-story height limit for residential buildings. gettyimagesbank
The change will have the biggest effect on residential buildings in the city. As the city government's cap on building heights at 35 floors will no longer be in effect, the new plan will encourage builders to move beyond constructing cookie-cutter apartments and come up with bolder and more creative designs.
The city's new urban planning outlook, however, will maintain existing rules for total floor area and floor area ratio. With the fundamental rules preserved, the new plan is expected to introduce slimmer buildings that are less obtrusive than bigger structures.
"The biggest aspect to look forward to in the 2040 Seoul City Basic Plan is that it will bring the entire city towards a more flexible urban plan to adopt to the rapidly changing societal environment," said Cho Nam-joon, chief of the City Planning Division under the city government's Planning and Administration Office. "The plan will hopefully propose directions to various future agendas for the city government's sub-agencies and future city renovation projects, thereby raising the quality of life of our citizens and upgrading Seoul's global edge."
Brainstorming for the project kicked off in 2019 and the plan was announced last March. The Seoul Metropolitan Government then started collecting opinions through various methods, including town hall meetings, technical meetings led by experts from related government bureaus and plenary meetings at Seoul Metropolitan Council. The discussions wrapped up last November at a meeting of the Urban Planning Balance Committee, one of the standing committees under the city council.Restaurants and bars line an alley of Gangnam District in southern Seoul. Some parts of the city will be rezoned for mixed use under the new city plan. Gettyimagesbank
One of the plan's underlying futuristic paradigms is "Beyond Zoning," referring to urban planning for more efficient use of parts of the city by adhering to each area's predetermined purposes but at the same time catering to the area's secondary purposes ― be it residential, business, commercial or leisure. It's a more flexible type of city zoning management that acknowledges more than one use of the same area.
"We are lowering thresholds and minimizing regulations to facilitate rezoning and thus develop mixed-use spaces across the city," Cho said. "With cooperation from the central government and discussions with various experts and citizens, our city's futuristic urban planning system based on Beyond Zoning will advance."
The new plan follows the country's National Land Planning and Utilization Act that mandates city governments to update their zoning regulations every five years. The plan's other major goals include rezoning regions around rivers and waterways, upgrading future public transit infrastructure, encouraging carbon neutrality, as well as introducing more functions to the city's central regions.