The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 18th that it held the 15th Urban Planning Committee meeting on the 17th and approved with amendments the proposal to designate the Yongsan International Business District as an urban development zone and to change its development plan.
Since the Nov. 28 notice last year of the zone designation and development plan, the city has supplemented and advanced the development plan in the process of establishing the implementation plan to improve the completeness of the existing plan.
Earlier on Jun. 26, the Seoul Metropolitan Government received from Yongsan District a request for a decision on the proposals to change the zone and development plan and the implementation plan, and pushed forward the related administrative procedures. Through the review of this Urban Planning Committee, it laid the groundwork for approval of the implementation plan and the start of construction.
The core of the proposed change to the development plan is to establish a pedestrian network centered on Yongsan Station, create open urban space, and secure open space focused on the ground level, strengthening user convenience and environmental elements.
Focusing on Yongsan Station, the core of the Yongsan International Business District's transportation system, a pedestrian network radiating to each land parcel was built to strengthen walkability and connections to public transit.
In addition, based on environmental simulations, a parcel plan was prepared to allow light and wind to pass between buildings. It established an open green system toward the Han River and secured ample open space focused on the ground level to create an urban space where ecology and people can coexist.
The Yongsan International Business District development project will transform the long-neglected Yongsan Station rail yard site into a "three-dimensional, mixed-use vertical city" that integrates work, residential, and leisure functions.
To foster the Yongsan International Business District as an Asia-Pacific business hub, the Seoul Metropolitan Government also plans to accelerate efforts to attract global corporations. Together with the government, it will establish a strategy to attract global corporations and encourage investment in Yongsan by leading overseas corporations through corporate roundtables, forums, and international conferences.
As soon as related preliminary administrative procedures such as traffic impact assessments and disaster impact assessments are completed, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to announce changes to the zone and development plan and approve and notice the implementation plan, and to push ahead without a hitch with groundbreaking for the infrastructure within this year.
Im Chang-su, Seoul's future space planning director, said, "We will make all-out efforts to develop the Yongsan rail yard site, which has been left idle for more than 10 years, so that we can get ahead in fierce competition among global cities," adding, "We will build the Yongsan International Business District into an innovative global business hub and make it an attractive urban space used by all citizens."