Seoul City Realizes Fair Compensation for District Unit Planning Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dong-hyun] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to rationalize the service fees for establishing and revising district unit plans.

On the 24th, Seoul announced that it had prepared the "Seoul Metropolitan Government District Unit Plan Service Fee Calculation Standards." The current method for calculating service fees for district unit plans made it difficult to determine fees based on specific task contents. Typically, service fees were calculated assuming the performance of standard tasks (basic tasks) as a whole, and then arbitrarily adjusted considering budget conditions. This led to concerns about poor-quality services due to excessively low service fees. Additionally, although there was a need to establish and revise only certain items reflecting regional characteristics, there were no standards for items that needed to be reviewed in connection with others. As a result, some autonomous districts hesitated to commission services even when partial establishment or revision was necessary.

To address these issues, the city has now established appropriate standards, which will specifically clarify the contents of the previously broadly defined basic tasks for each work item. This will enable an objective assessment of how the scope of commissioned tasks compares to the basic tasks. Furthermore, by calculating service fees accordingly, fees proportional to the amount of work performed can be determined.

In addition, standards have been established for items that need to be reviewed in connection with those subject to partial establishment or revision. Only the items requiring partial establishment or revision and those that need to be investigated, analyzed, and planned in connection with them will be targeted, allowing for customized service fee calculations corresponding to these tasks.

Kwon Ki-wook, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Urban Planning Bureau, expressed hope that "this will enable reasonable service fee calculations tailored to Seoul’s circumstances, serving as an opportunity to improve the quality of services through appropriate compensation."