Seoul Allows Up to 1,300% Floor Area Ratio at Two Sites

The Seoul city government is moving to reshape the capital into a multi-centered city by building growth and neighborhood hubs at central districts, transfer stations and along major arterial roads. Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam District and Jayang-dong in Gwangjin District will be developed as large-scale growth hubs, while Seongnae-dong, Chang-dong, Junggok-dong and Doksan-dong will become neighborhood hubs outside station areas.

The city said on the 15th that it had selected six growth and neighborhood hubs, including two sites under its growth-hub mixed-use development program and four under its growth-potential revitalization program. The mixed-use development program creates large hubs combining cultural, industrial, office and residential functions in the downtown area, wider metropolitan centers and around transfer stations. Floor area ratios of up to 1,300% can be applied based on general commercial zoning.

The area around 680-1 Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam District and the area around 17-1 Jayang-dong in Gwangjin District were chosen as the first pilot sites. The Yeoksam-dong site is a 5,475.1-square-meter plot located in the Seonjeongneung Station transfer area, adjoining Eonju-ro. The city plans to extend the functions of the Gangnam business district, now concentrated along Teheran-ro, out to Eonju-ro and the area around Seonjeongneung Station. The Jayang-dong site covers 5,132.6 square meters in the Seongsu district center, sitting in the Konkuk University Station transfer area and adjoining Achasan-ro. The plan is to develop it into a new hub for the northeastern part of the city by linking the advanced industries, young talent and cultural and commercial functions of the Seongsu and Konkuk University areas.

The growth-potential revitalization program applies to areas along arterial roads outside station areas. It converts into neighborhood hubs those areas that have sufficient public transit access and daytime population but also many aging buildings and underused plots of land.

Pilot projects will proceed at four sites: the area around 448-1 Seongnae-dong in Gangdong District, 715-1 Chang-dong in Dobong District, 587-2 Junggok-dong in Gwangjin District and 1066-2 Doksan-dong in Geumcheon District. The Seongnae-dong site lies between Gangdong-gu Office Station and Olympic Park Station, while the Chang-dong project will be linked to the Great Train Express (GTX)-C line and the development of an intermodal transfer center at Chang-dong Station. Junggok-dong will draw on its location near Dongil-ro, the Dongbu Expressway and the Jungnang Stream, and Doksan-dong on its links to the Gasan and Guro digital industrial complexes, to develop each into a hub for daily life and jobs.

A management framework will also apply to areas outside the pilot sites. The area around Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) on Euljiro in Jung District and the Chang-dong and Sanggye metropolitan center will be managed as recommended growth-hub zones, with support to convert them into mixed-use development projects once conditions are in place. Six arterial roads — Dobong-ro, Dongil-ro, Tongil-ro, Gonghang-daero, Gyeongin-ro and Siheung-daero — will be designated growth-potential corridors, spreading development along with residential and transport functions along the road axes.

The city will set up cooperative bodies for each site, draw up plans by December this year and begin administrative procedures in January. Starting with these six sites, it plans to expand the program to a total of 70 sites by 2030, including 28 growth-hub mixed-use developments and 42 growth-potential revitalization projects.

"We will upgrade the downtown and wider metropolitan centers into growth hubs that lead Seoul's future, and turn the arterial roadsides between stations into neighborhood hubs that revive residents' daily lives and local economies, reshaping all of Seoul into a densely multi-centered city," said Kim Chang-gyu, head of the Urban Space Division at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.