High-rise Buildings Allowed Along Han River in Seoul

Seoul City to ease building heights regulations in areas along Han River

Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced Jan. 19 the bank areas of Han River in Seoul including Jamsil, Banpo, Dangsan, and Seoung-su districts will be allowed to build skyscrappers as the city decided to ease the restrictions on heights of buildings in the districts. The city said in those areas buildings with 50 stories high will be allowed, while other areas will be allowed to build 40 stories high buildings.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled a grandiose plan to give a facelift to many of the city's dilapidated areas including the area surrounding the Seoul Railroad Station in the heart of the capital. Under the new city renovation plan announced on Dec. 4, the municipal government is calling for the construction of a high-rise convention center with hotels, residential and commercial facilities and eight plazas around the old railroad station.
Seoul City has also decided to utilize an empty lot in Bongrae-dong on the northern side of the railroad station encompassing 55,826 square meters for the site of the huge international convention center, a key structure in Seoul City's renovation plan on the areas surrounding the famed railroad station. The project will be undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korail, the operator of the railroad system in Korea. Seoul City officials said the projected convention center will have a room large enough for 7,500 people, 61 conference rooms, and exhibition space of 26,500 square meters, which is larger than COEX in southern Seoul. Joining the convention center will be a hotel, shopping malls, cultural space, a business center and residential facilities for foreign visitors staying in the city for an extended period. The convention center will have 35 floors above ground some 150 meters tall according to city officials, who added that since the site is located outside the four main gates in the capital, it is not subject to height limits. They said a total of eight plazas will also be built around the convention center including a cultural plaza, a history plaza, an outdoor stage and an art plaza. They said a citizens' park will also be built at the lot located between the Lotte Mart and the Yeomcheon Bridge with some 400 meters of railroad to be covered as part of the projected park. The new park will be connected to Seosomun Park by a green bridge for pedestrians and Seoul City will try to remove Lotte Mart to make room for the new park. Lotte Mart's lease for the land, however, will not expire until 2033.
The city also plans to demolish the suspended drive in front of Seoul Station so that the boulevard will be extended to the new commercial and cultural complex surrounding the station. The city, in consultation with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and tourism and Korail, will select the developers next year so that the ambitious project can be launched in 2010 and completed in 2014. The city also plans to renovate the adjacent areas of the projected facilities like shops and other old structures to bring the neighborhood up to the standards of the new buildings and facilities to be built under the huge project.
Director Lee In-keun of the City Planning Bureau of Seoul City said the Seoul Railroad Station project will bring the balanced development of both the northern and southern parts of Seoul with the construction of the convention center in the north standing with top-class convention facilities in the South such as COEX and SETEC. He said he is confident the Seoul Station area will be reborn as a gateway for international exchange that will coexist with culture and art exhibitions and performance facilities.
The Seoul Railroad Station will be remodeled and reopened in 2012 as a culture and art exhibition and performance hall, he said.
In the meantime, the city announced on Dec. 10 its plan to turn all of the streams in the city into 'theme streams' in terms of culture, sight and ecology, so that they no longer will be neglected from city planning.
The city said they will be renovated like Cheonggyecheon Stream, cutting through Seoul, under the Seoul Stream Master Plan. The plan is to recover the original shapes of the steams with all the covers on the streams removed, recovering ecological conditions to maximize their value, and making them safe like gardens surrounding homes, among others. Those 54 streams in and around Seoul, except the Hankang, Tancheon, Chungryangcheon, Anyangcheon and Hongjecheon, will be renovated under both mid- and long-term plans with the mid-term plan ending in 2015 and the long-term plan in 2020. nw

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

A view of Yeouido when high-rise buildings are built under the city's plan.