view of SRPA District 2 ⓒKim Yeram
Seoul Metropolitan Government(SMG) announced a comprehensive plan that shifts urban planning of Sewoon Plaza from development and maintenance to conservation and regeneration. In the meantime, the city has encouraged gradual development in the area around old Sewoon Plaza by dividing it into small and medium-size on the ground of Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Plan established in 2014, but it has been criticized for not fully taking account of the current status of manufacturing in downtown of Seoul. The comprehensive countermeasures made public on March 4 will proceed in a few steps; maintenance of existing industry and cultivation of new industry, promotion of regeneration project in aborted redevelopment area, and the implementation of redevelopment project after preparing for tenant protection plan.
In cooperation with Jung-gu, Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation, and Korea Land & Housing Corporation, Seoul Metropolitan Government will establish eight public industrial bases for existing tenants on public sites and land donation sites. Public rental complex facilities, joint workshops, and smart anchor facilities for printing will be built, and public rental complex facilities will play a role to alleviate gentrification around Uljiro. In addition, they will manage the area in Sewoon Redevelopment Promotion Area where redevelopment project failed to implement after sunset by applying regeneration system through consultation with local residents. Redevelopment plans of 152 areas were canceled under the Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments, which account for about 89% of the total redevelopment area. Project operators with management and disposition plan or have applied for a license to implement projects should prepare effective tenant protection plan. The implementers of Sewoon District 3-6 and 7 should provide tenants with temporary business sites that are available until they can move in Knowledge Industry Center scheduled to be built in 2021.
Although the redevelopment projects in Sewoon Plaza area shifted to preservation of the existing urban manufacturing ecosystem, some people still raise concerns about the project. Their main concern is that the project may hinder organic connection of manufacturing ecosystem in the city center. Demolition plan of more than 400 business sites in Sewoon Districts 3 and 5 and construction of mixed-use apartments and complex facilities is not withdrawn yet, and the redevelopment of Supyo area, a cluster of tool stores is still ongoing. Large buildings will drive out many manufacturers and tool distributors, causing problems in the manufacturing system based on proximity, and in order to solve this problem, tenants have asked to establish tentatively named ‘Consultative Group for Activation of Industrial Ecosystem in Cheonggyecheon-Euljiro’. On the other hand, Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to complete administrative procedures for canceling redevelopment area by April, and establish an urban regeneration promotion plan of Sewoon Plaza within this year.