Main Roadside 'Linear Commercial Areas' Also Included
Incentives Applied for Introducing Accommodation and Eco-Friendly Buildings
"Realizing Compact City with Proximity to Work... Enhancing Urban Competitiveness"
Seoul City has decided to expand the target areas of the station area revitalization project to major arterial roads in order to create a job-residence proximity ‘Compact City (high-density mixed-use city).’
On the 5th, the city announced the second revision of the operation standards for the station area revitalization project, including line-type commercial areas along arterial roads in the project target areas. The plan is to develop the ‘line-type commercial areas,’ which have long been undeveloped and identified as a cause of regional environmental decline.
The station area revitalization project upgrades the zoning of sites within 350 meters of subway station platforms to increase floor area ratio (FAR), and 50% of the increased FAR is contributed to the public to expand necessary local facilities.
Last August, the city made the first revision of the operation standards, expanding the project target area from ‘within 250 meters from the subway station platform boundary’ to ‘within 350 meters for regional centers or higher in the central place system and transfer stations.’
Along with this, the city allows line-type commercial areas where two or more zoning districts overlap to be changed into a single zoning district, and when upgrading to a general commercial area, it mandates the introduction of ‘mixed-use (installation of office facilities (excluding officetels) or tourist accommodation facilities occupying more than 50% of the total FAR).’
For areas within 350 meters of subway station platforms, the allowable range for zoning changes has been increased from a maximum of two levels (three levels with committee approval) to up to four levels (when location characteristics are met and mixed-use is introduced).
Incentives for FAR have also been newly introduced for tourist accommodation facilities and eco-friendly buildings. By selecting creative and innovative designs and designating special architectural zones, the maximum FAR cap can be increased by up to 110 percentage points. To supply accommodation facilities for tourists, the city will additionally increase FAR within a range of up to 1.2 times when introducing tourist accommodation facilities along with zoning upgrades in line-type commercial areas.
Furthermore, to align with global policy directions such as carbon neutrality and energy self-sufficiency, additional FAR increments can be granted for the introduction of Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB), green building certification, and Intelligent Building Systems (IBS).
The city plans to supplement issues identified during project implementation by reorganizing eligibility requirements and swiftly advancing the project. To prevent resident conflicts and project delays caused by excessive zone expansion, additional requirements such as minimum lot size, low-density use, and new construction ratio will be added to the designation criteria for maintenance zones, and a consent rate of over 50% will be required when applying for target area selection.
Also, when housing cooperatives promote the project, the application requirements will be strengthened to apply for target areas only after the approval of the housing cooperative establishment, preventing damage to local housing cooperative members. Additionally, the city plans to improve the urban environment by mandating the creation of publicly accessible green spaces to secure pedestrian green areas.
The city will hold a related project briefing session in March to promote project revitalization.
Namjun Cho, Director of the Urban Space Headquarters of Seoul City, said, “The station area revitalization project is a project to develop areas around subway stations with great development potential and ripple effects to realize a job-residence proximity compact city. We expect to realize the ‘Seoul Spatial Transformation’ and strengthen global urban competitiveness through the creation of international business and tourism infrastructure utilizing line-type commercial areas.”
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