The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 16th the results of the selection for the "2026 support project for general planners, etc." to support the activities of local governments' general planners.
A general planner is a private-sector expert appointed by a local government head to support the establishment of major urban architecture and space design policies and strategies. It was introduced in 2008 to enhance the design quality of public architecture.
As a result of the review, support for operating general planners will go to eight places: Geoje, South Gyeongsang; Bucheon, Yangju and Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi; North Gyeongsang Province; Jeju Special Self-Governing Province; Cheonan, South Chungcheong; and Hadong County, South Gyeongsang. The total support amount is 300 million won.
In addition, the establishment of urban architecture design plans will support three places—Busan Metropolitan City, Yangju in Gyeonggi, and Cheongju in North Chungcheong—following this year. The support amount is 150 million won. The urban architecture design plan is a plan to improve the quality of building and urban design, preparing measures such as space innovation strategies or the designation of building asset promotion zones in connection with excellent building assets registered by each local government.
This call for applications ran from Nov. 14 to 28. A selection committee composed of urban architecture experts evaluated the application materials and presentations submitted by local governments and selected recipients by reviewing the suitability of the projects and the feasibility of the plans.
Choi Areum, head of the Architectural Culture and Landscape Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Following the national land environment design support project from 2009 to 2016, MOLIT has been enhancing the quality of urban architecture through support for general planners from 2019 to 2026," and added, "First introduced in the early 19th century in the Netherlands, activities by general planners have contributed to the creation of excellent urban architectural landscapes, and we will make greater efforts to share best practices so that these activities can spread their results in Korea."