Jeong Junho Preliminary Candidate's Second Pledge: 'Restoration of Seobangcheon'

"Revitalizing Seobangcheon as an Ecological Stream... Opening the Era of Seobangcheon"

Jeong Junho, the Democratic Party preliminary candidate for Buk-gu (Gap), Gwangju Metropolitan City, announced his second pledge to change the economic map of Buk-gu.

Candidate Jeong drew an ambitious plan to restore Seobangcheon and turn it into Gwangju's Cheonggyecheon, opening the era of Seobangcheon in Buk-gu.

Currently, the downstream section of Seobangcheon, from the confluence with Gwangjucheon to between Mudeung Stadium and Sinan Bridge, has had its covering removed, but the upstream area is still covered with concrete lids, with surrounding development stagnant and traffic congested. The section of Seobangcheon to be restored through the ecological stream project spans 1.6 km from the Sinan Bridge intersection, passing Chidae of Chonnam National University and the main gate of Chonnam National University, to the Buk-gu Office intersection, creating a walking trail approximately 4 km long.

Once the restoration of Seobangcheon is completed, a healing space where water and people coexist will be created from the Imdong Kia Champions Field and the former Chonnam Textile site to the front of Buk-gu Office, activating the axis connecting Imdong to Chonnam National University.

Through this, Candidate Jeong explained that the ripple effect of the ‘mall zone’ from the complex shopping mall to be built on the former Chonnam Textile site will extend to Sinandong and Junghung-dong behind Gwangju Station, where development has been slow.

The expected annual visitors due to the ecological stream creation are 2.55 million, and the anticipated economic effect from revitalizing the commercial area around the stream is 150 billion KRW per year, with an estimated economic impact of about 4.8 trillion KRW over the next 30 years.

By restoring Seobangcheon, the plan is to revive the area around Gwangju Station, which is currently declining and not functioning properly, and create an ‘anchor’ facility that attracts people, thereby establishing a successful urban regeneration project that has not been achieved so far. As proven by various domestic and international city cases, parks and walking trails can serve as anchor facilities.

Candidate Jeong Junho said, “I will definitely restore Seobangcheon and make it Gwangju’s Cheonggyecheon, creating a Buk-gu where nature and people coexist and tourists can stay. Through this, I will change the commercial map of Buk-gu and surely achieve economic revitalization in Buk-gu.”