Mapo District in Seoul will move forward in earnest with development along an 8.2-kilometer stretch of the Han River. The district plans to transform riverfront areas that had gone unused because of facilities such as a thermal power plant and a retention basin into sports, culture, education, and residential facilities.
On the 18th, Mapo District held a briefing on the "Mapo riverside 8.2 project" at the Mapo 365 Civic Center and announced the plan.
The Mapo riverside 8.2 project is a plan to create a world-class tourism and cultural attraction along an 8.2-kilometer section of the Han River in Mapo District. The project name draws on the fact that Mapo's riverside is the longest in Seoul at 8.2 kilometers. It includes various development plans such as the transfer of a military unit and the construction of a complex culture and arts center.
In this way, among the 11 districts that border the Han River, Mapo has the longest stretch along the river. However, unlike other districts that have leveraged the riverfront to develop residential and cultural facilities, Mapo has not been able to fully utilize its waterfront hubs, due to the presence of the Seoul Thermal Power Plant and the Mapo retention basin along the riverfront.
As a result, voices in the local community have continued to call for development of the Mapo riverfront area. In response, Mapo District has launched efforts to balance development focused on inner-city areas such as Hongdae, Dohwa-Gongdeok, and Sangam-Susaek with the riverfront.
The Mapo riverside project 8.2 aims to make the Mapo riverfront a place people want to visit, walk, and stay.
To create a riverfront people want to visit, the district will expand mixed-use cultural spaces along the water by utilizing available sites first. In the Mapo retention basin area and the adjacent public parking lot site, it will establish the "Mapo 365 Culture and Sports Center," equipped with a performance hall and a comprehensive sports center. Earlier, in Nov., the district opened cultural and sports facilities including the Mapo 365 Civic Center and the Mapo 365 Observatory inside the Seoul Thermal Power Plant.
The district will also push to create residential complexes along the riverfront. It plans to continue advancing the transfer of the military unit in Hapjeong and use the secured site as a residential complex. In addition, it will support 16 maintenance projects so they can proceed without setbacks, including the Seongsan Siyeong dwellings reconstruction, the Moa Town projects in Mangwon-dong and Hapjeong-dong, the Ahyeon 1 District dwellings redevelopment, and the Dohwa-area dwellings reconstruction.
Walking trails will be installed along the Mapo riverfront, and pedestrian paths connecting the inner city to the Han River will also be created. By using circulator buses and other means, the district plans to make the river accessible from anywhere in Mapo within 30 minutes.
The district will also develop a variety of content so citizens and tourists can stay along the Mapo riverfront for extended periods. It will unearth historical content based on Mapo's history, alongside busking, festivals, and media facade performances. It will also seek to introduce the "Mapo Pass," integrating use of tourism and cultural facilities, shops, and a circulator train.
Park Gang-su, the Mapo District head, said, "The Mapo riverside 8.2 project is not just for the eighth popularly elected term," adding, "It is a blueprint for Mapo's sustainable prosperity that will continue to the next generation and the generation after that."