Calls are growing for South Korea's Busan city government to institutionally guarantee support for the old downtown area in the second phase of the North Port redevelopment project, amid criticism that the benefits of the first phase have not spread sufficiently to the neighborhoods behind the site.
Lee Sang-wook, a Busan Metropolitan Council member representing Dong-gu District 1 for the People Power Party, urged the city to draw up a "North Port-old downtown coexistence plan" during a five-minute address at a plenary session of the council's 339th extraordinary session on the 1st. "North Port and the old downtown are not spaces that can be divided by a project boundary. They are a single living zone," he said.
Lee said that while the 1.55 million-square-meter first phase, which drew 2.9929 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in total project costs, has secured a site for the new headquarters of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and is pursuing the relocation of public institutions including a maritime court and the Korea Development Bank, residents of old downtown neighborhoods such as Choryang, Sujeong, Jwacheon and Beomil still feel too little benefit after enduring years of inconvenience from port and rail operations.
He noted in particular that in a 2020 public opinion survey by the Busan Port North Port Integrated Development Task Force, 68.6% of respondents said development gains from North Port should be returned to the old downtown, calling coexistence between the two areas a demand from citizens.
The key point of contention in the second phase is the development of the Sujeong corridor, originally pursued as a link to the old downtown. Lee voiced concern that the corridor development could be dropped on profitability grounds, arguing that if direct development proves difficult, the city, as the lead organization of the consortium, must clearly write local returns for the Sujeong corridor area and support measures for the old downtown into the implementation agreement.
Specifically, he proposed drawing up a coexistence plan covering expanded living infrastructure and cultural, sports and welfare facilities in the old downtown, improved walking conditions and revitalized neighborhood commercial districts, and writing a "local contribution plan for the old downtown" commensurate with the lifting of height restrictions in the Sujeong corridor into the phase 2 implementation agreement. He also called on the city to petition the central government and the National Assembly to revise related laws and rules so that development gains from North Port can be reinvested in old downtown areas outside the project zone.
"Whether the North Port redevelopment succeeds should be judged not by how many new buildings have gone up, but by how much the results of development have carried through to the lives of old downtown residents," Lee said. "The city must play a responsible role so that residents can feel that their neighborhood has changed because of the North Port redevelopment."
