[Choi Jun-young's Urban Pilgrimage] Cities Must Be the Foundation of the New Deal

On July 14th, the comprehensive plan for the Korean New Deal was announced. As is well known, the Korean New Deal was promoted against the backdrop of overcoming the severe economic recession caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and responding to structural transformation. The Korean New Deal adopts a phased approach that aims to restore the normal growth trajectory by minimizing economic shocks while promoting reforms for structural change.

The Korean New Deal fundamentally consists of two main pillars: the 'Digital New Deal,' which aims to promote and spread digital innovation and dynamism across the economy, and the 'Green New Deal,' which seeks to accelerate the transition to an eco-friendly and low-carbon economic base. To this end, the government has presented 10 representative tasks and a total of 28 tasks including strengthening safety nets. The ultimate goal of the Korean New Deal is to drive transformation into a smart country and a leader in green initiatives. The 10 representative tasks of the Korean New Deal include strengthening the D.N.A (Data, Network, Artificial Intelligence) ecosystem, digital transformation of educational infrastructure, fostering non-face-to-face (untact) industries, digitalization of social overhead capital (SOC), green transition of urban, spatial, and living infrastructure, expansion of low-carbon and distributed energy, and establishment of a green industrial innovation ecosystem. These are recognized as essential elements for growth and change as of 2020. The 'Digital Green Industrial Complex,' which combines digital and green, can be seen as a representative example of such changes.

Spatial Changes Following the Korean New Deal... Glimpsed in Digital Green Industrial Complexes and More
Approaching Through the Space Called 'City'... Can Draw Concrete Patterns of Change

However, when looking at these tasks, a common picture that connects and unites them is not clearly drawn. Individual projects are listed flatly, but the interactions and synergies among them, as well as the will to advance to a higher level through this process, are not well expressed. The biggest weakness of the Korean New Deal is that it fails to show how these changes will proceed and how they will transform our lives in the physical dimension of space. Although green transition of cities and spaces, and digital innovation of urban and industrial complex spaces are included, these are perceived as separate, isolated projects rather than closely integrated with other elements.

What if the Korean New Deal is approached through the space called 'city'? Would it be possible to draw a more concrete picture of change? If the Korean New Deal seeks fundamental changes in our society and economy, the target should be the city where 91% of the total population resides. However, such an approach has not been properly implemented. Considering the urbanization rate of 91%, the Korean New Deal should proceed through the canvas of the city, where our lives unfold, rather than specific industries or spaces.

Korean cities have undergone many changes and developments through continuous urbanization over the past 60 years. Our cities have steadily developed through well-established road networks, fully built power and communication networks, disaster prevention systems that ensure safety from natural disasters, and secured residential spaces represented by apartments. However, it is also true that many challenges and limitations remain behind this development. Housing that meets the standards and expectations of the $30,000 era in 2020 is insufficient, and various infrastructures built in the past are becoming seriously aged.

Choi Jun-young, Senior Advisor at Yulchon LLC

Markets, commercial and production facilities that have been the stage for urban jobs and economic activities are also increasingly declining as they fail to keep up with changing times. The rapid changes in social and economic environments are not being matched by physical spaces. Problems such as rising housing prices in Seoul and the metropolitan area, as well as the shrinkage and decline of regional cities, occur because physical spaces fail to accommodate changes of the times. The greatest attraction of cities is vitality, freedom, and the rapid flow and accumulation of information. However, most cities are losing these attractions recently.

Korean Cities Developed Over 60 Years Reveal Many Challenges and Limitations
New Deal Policies Closely Linked to Life, Such as Floor Height Regulations Review and New Transportation Means... Possible to Transform into 21st Century Cities

For the Korean New Deal to be truly felt and to bring about fundamental change, it must be implemented at the unit of space called the city. Shedding numerous regulations and past practices applied to cities and striving for transformation into cities suitable for the 21st century is the way to create jobs and lead changes in social and economic environments. To this end, the increasingly complex zoning districts must be simplified and multi-use promoted, and fundamental reconsideration of existing floor area ratios and floor height regulations must be conducted for efficient use of limited land. Production facilities and industrial complexes pushed to the outskirts and separated from living spaces must be brought back into everyday spaces, and fundamental changes in road and transportation systems reflecting new transportation means such as personal mobility must be sought. The reality is that physical urban spaces are not properly reflecting social changes such as the increase in single-person households, the normalization of dual-income families, and the growing demand for proximity between residence and workplace.

The Korean New Deal must proceed at the unit of space called the city, and individual tasks should be utilized as means to change spaces rather than as isolated projects. Through this process, the creation of new industries and jobs, as well as preparation and change for the future, can naturally occur. It is also necessary to form a management system at a metropolitan scale through adjustment and consolidation of administrative districts that do not reflect living areas.

The New Deal is not simply a large-scale investment project. It must not be forgotten that it is literally a new deal. The true New Deal is a process of creating a new order for the future through reforms and changes, breaking away from past practices and customs. Seeking new changes and approaches by breaking free from fixed ideas and practices that bind cities is itself the New Deal, and in this process, the application of digital technology and the introduction of new energy systems represented by renewable energy become possible. Through this, cities can become new hubs that respond to climate change, economic recession, and other challenges we face.

Digital and green are merely means to drive and accelerate change; they cannot be the ultimate goals themselves. Ultimately, they are tools to be used for human convenience, happiness, and safety. If it is presented what and how to change and transform through the tools of digital and green, the Korean New Deal can go beyond criticisms that it is merely an abstract discussion raised by some and bring about genuine change.