Building Heights Around Gyeongbokgung to Increase by 2-4m for the First Time in 47 Years

Seoul City Overhauls Entire High-Rise District
City Expects "Improvement in Aging Residential Environment"

Seoul City has decided to significantly relax building height regulations in height-restricted zones to improve aging residential areas.

The city announced on the 18th that it held an urban planning committee meeting on the 17th and approved amendments to the zoning district plan (height-restricted zones and specialized scenic districts) for a comprehensive overhaul of height-restricted zones.

Height-restricted zones are urban management plans that set maximum height limits for surrounding buildings to protect the scenery of major mountains and facilities such as Namsan, Bukhansan, and Gyeongbokgung Palace, and to prevent overcrowding. The city currently designates and manages eight height-restricted zones.

With this overhaul, the city plans to further relax height standards within the scope of protecting the scenery of mountains and facilities. This aims to reduce the inconvenience experienced by residents who had to endure poor living conditions due to development restrictions imposed by height-restricted zone designations.

First, the height limit in the ‘Namsan Surrounding Height-Restricted Zone’ will be raised from the existing 12m to 16m in some areas such as Dasan-dong, Hoehyeon-dong, and Itaewon-dong. The ‘Gugi-Pyeongchang Height-Restricted Zone’ will be raised from 20m to 24m. The ‘Gyeongbokgung Height-Restricted Zone’ will be relaxed from 20m to 24m in parts of the Seochon area and changed from 16m to 18m. This is the first change in height standards for the Gyeongbokgung Height-Restricted Zone since its designation in 1977.

Additionally, the scenic management guidelines, which had only been applied to the Bukhansan Height-Restricted Zone, will be expanded to the Namsan and Gugi-Pyeongchang Height-Restricted Zones. These guidelines include provisions allowing building heights to be increased up to 45m during redevelopment projects.

Areas where the regulations are ineffective will be removed from height-restricted zones. These include the ‘Oryu Height-Restricted Zone’ in Guro-gu and the ‘Court Complex Surrounding Height-Restricted Zone’ in Seocho-gu. The Oryu Height-Restricted Zone will be managed under the ‘Onsu Station Area District Unit Plan’ to strengthen industrial competitiveness, and the Court Complex Surrounding Height-Restricted Zone will be managed under the ‘Seocho-ro District Unit Plan’ to revitalize urban functions.

Furthermore, height-restricted zones will be lifted in areas (1.97㎢) where they overlap with natural scenic districts (3 floors, 12m or less), first-class general residential areas (4 floors or less), and parks, where regulations are ineffective. This applies to height-restricted zones around Namsan, Bukhansan, Gugi-Pyeongchang, Gyeongbokgung, and the National Assembly building.

However, regarding the ‘National Assembly Surrounding Height-Restricted Zone,’ the plan to relax height limits from the existing 75m, 120m, and 170m to 90m, 120m, and 170m will be decided after further consultation with related agencies.

To manage height-restricted zones rationally, the city announced the ‘New Height-Restricted Zone Concept’ in June last year and collected opinions from residents and the city council from July to December of the same year. After re-notification and consultations with related departments in February this year, the decision is planned to be finalized within the first half of the year.

Jo Nam-jun, head of Seoul City’s Urban Space Headquarters, stated, “We expect that by completely overhauling the height-restricted zones, which have been perceived as regulations, we will be able to improve aging residential environments.”

Oh Eon-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu, and Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul (first from the left), are speaking at the site confirming the status and reorganization of the altitude district around Bukhansan, held on the rooftop of the Cha Mirisa Memorial Hall at Duksung Women's University in Dobong-gu, Seoul, on June 30 last year.