Sejong-si, Ranked 1st for Two Consecutive Years in 'Korea Architecture Administration Evaluation'

Sejong City Hall Panorama

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Sejong City has been honored with the top spot for two consecutive years in the '2020 Korea Architecture Administration Evaluation.'

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 17th that among 243 local governments nationwide evaluated from April to last month, Sejong City ranked first among metropolitan local governments with a score of 81.6, securing the top position for the second consecutive year.

The Architecture Administration Evaluation is an annual system conducted by the Ministry of Land to comprehensively assess the sound operation of architectural administration across all local governments nationwide. The evaluation is divided into general categories (metropolitan/basic) and special categories.

In this evaluation, the Ministry of Land newly introduced indicators such as building owners' satisfaction surveys following architectural permits and approvals, and the rate of civil complaints, focusing on conducting evaluations that citizens can directly feel. Additionally, indicators like preliminary certification achievements for zero-energy public buildings and performance in public building green remodeling projects were newly developed to strengthen the role of local governments in promoting green buildings.

In the general category, which evaluates the rationality of architectural administrative procedures, safety management, and appropriateness of maintenance, Sejong City ranked first among 17 metropolitan local governments.

Sejong City received excellent evaluations in areas related to architectural review, building maintenance inspection implementation, and management of illegal buildings, leading to its selection as number one. Notably, it earned the honor of ranking first again in the 2020 evaluation following the 2019 assessment.

Seoul City also ranked second with 71.7 points, maintaining its position from the previous year. Seoul received high scores for the implementation of architectural policies such as the establishment of regional architectural safety centers. Gyeongnam Province took third place with 66.9 points.

For basic local governments, 15 metropolitan local governments excluding Sejong and Jeju directly evaluated the basic local governments within their jurisdiction and selected one each. The selected districts and cities are ▲Gangnam-gu, Seoul ▲Buk-gu, Busan ▲Nam-gu, Daegu ▲Bupyeong-gu, Incheon ▲Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju ▲Seo-gu, Daejeon ▲Dong-gu, Ulsan ▲Yongin-si, Gyeonggi ▲Chuncheon-si, Gangwon ▲Cheongju-si, Chungbuk ▲Seosan-si, Chungnam ▲Namwon-si, Jeonbuk ▲Suncheon-si, Jeonnam ▲Gyeongju-si, Gyeongbuk ▲Jinju-si, Gyeongnam.

In the special category, which solicited '2019 Architectural Administration Innovation and Local Government Field-Oriented Service Improvement Cases,' Jeonbuk Province and Icheon City in Gyeonggi were selected as outstanding local governments among a total of 40 submitted cases.

Jeonbuk Province was recognized for contributing to providing housing for vulnerable groups and supporting local arts and culture through its initiative ‘Dream of a New Home, Hope House Promotion.’ Icheon City was praised for improving the quality of administrative services by offering consultations with private experts to civil petitioners through the 'Integrated Permit Consultation System with Experts.'

The three metropolitan local governments and 15 basic local governments selected as outstanding, along with the two special category winners, will receive awards from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Kim Sang-moon, Director of Architectural Policy at the Ministry of Land, said, "Based on this year's architecture administration evaluation results, we will continue to develop evaluation indicators reflecting social changes and citizen demands to provide architectural administrative services trusted by the public."