Changes Begin on Songpa-daero After 35 Years

Songpa-gu to Transform Songpa-daero, Which Has Seen Little Change Since Its Opening in 1988, into a Premium Street

January 19: Basic Planning Service Launched... Detailed Plans to Be Prepared by March

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) has initiated efforts to reinvent ‘Songpa-daero,’ the face of Songpa, as a premium street for the first time in 35 years since the district’s establishment.

‘Songpa-daero’ is a 6.2 km long, 10-lane road stretching from the southern end of Jamsil Bridge to the Seongnam city boundary. It serves as a central artery connecting Songpa’s landmarks and key facilities such as Jamsil Station, Lotte World Tower, Seokchon Lake, Garak Agricultural and Marine Products Market, Munjeong Legal Town, and the Southeast Logistics Center.

However, compared to the rapid development of major Seoul thoroughfares like Teheran-ro, Songpa-daero has been relatively neglected in terms of development benefits. Due to various constraints, the area has changed little from its state 35 years ago, resulting in deteriorating surroundings and a loss of vitality in the local economy, making urgent improvements necessary.

Accordingly, the district has selected the ‘Songpa-daero Premium Street Development Project’ as a key pledge of the 8th local government administration and launched a service on January 19 to draft the project blueprint.

The goal of the service is to create a ‘pleasant, elegant, and vibrant premium street, Songpa-daero.’ The plan will explore ways to enhance urban value by utilizing the diverse cultural, commercial, and green spaces distributed near Songpa-daero.

The main directions are ▲pleasant pedestrian green streets ▲vibrant job creation ▲elegant design street development.

Specifically, the 6.2 km stretch will be divided into four zones to prepare plans for ▲activating the street using advertising media ▲road restructuring ▲reorganizing urban spatial structure centered on transit-oriented development ▲encouraging diverse and elegant architectural development through differentiated building designs to bring about substantial changes.

The service is scheduled to be completed by March this year.

Alongside the service, the district will actively incorporate expert opinions to enhance the project’s effectiveness. An advisory committee chaired by Kwon Young-geol, Chairman of the Seoul Design Foundation, will be formed to continuously receive expert advice in fields such as urban planning and green spaces.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “Songpa-daero is the face of Songpa and a gateway road to southeastern Seoul, but it has been neglected in terms of development and growth. Based on this service, we will transform Songpa-daero into a beautiful and walkable street that attracts many visitors and, in the long term, rebirth it as a premium street bustling with tourism, leading companies, and abundant jobs.”