Busan City Selects 7 Sites for Creative Buildings Proposed by Private Sector with World-Renowned Architects

Applications for target sites from May 29 to June 27, nine submissions with world-renowned architects

Final pilot project sites to be selected after receiving conceptual designs in October

Busan City has selected seven sites as candidates for the 'Special Architectural District Revitalization Pilot Project,' a system for innovative architectural design proposals led by the private sector.

Busan City Hall.

The selected candidate sites are: ▲Namcheon 2 District Reconstruction and Maintenance Project ▲Nampo-dong Harbor Town ▲Mipo Oceanside Hotel ▲Yeongdo Collective Hills ▲Yongdu-gol Complex Facility ▲Banyeo Officetel ▲U-dong Complex Development.

The 'Special Architectural District Revitalization Pilot Project' is being promoted with the goal of creating 'Global Hub City Busan,' a city where citizens are happy and people from around the world want to visit. The project aims to encourage the construction of innovative buildings through master planning and design by world-renowned architects.

From May 29 to June 27, applications were received for nine sites of various locations, sizes, and purposes. To ensure a fair and transparent selection process, the city established a separate Future Architectural Innovation Committee, which conducted evaluations and selected the candidate sites.

By district, Haeundae-gu had the most applications with four sites, followed by Jung-gu with two, Saha-gu with one, Yeongdo-gu with one, and Suyeong-gu with one.

By use, the applications included accommodation facilities (tourist accommodations, condominiums, hostels), business facilities (offices, officetels), multi-family housing, and mixed-use residential buildings. The site areas ranged from a minimum of 1,686 square meters to a maximum of 151,364 square meters, covering a wide variety of building scales.

The Future Architectural Innovation Committee comprehensively evaluated the basic application requirements, the participating architects' portfolios, the conditions of the site locations, connectivity, and ripple effects. Based on these criteria, seven out of nine sites were finally selected to submit master planning proposals.

The city plans to receive the master planning proposals for the selected sites by October and then select the final pilot project sites.

The final pilot project sites will receive administrative support benefits such as relaxation or exemption of various architectural regulations, partial support for planning and design costs, and streamlined procedures, to help realize innovative and creative designs by world-class architects.

Nah Gun, the city's chief designer and chair of the Future Architectural Innovation Committee, stated, "It is an honor to serve as a judge for this competition, which will lay the foundation for making Busan a city where citizens are happy and people from around the world want to visit. We have comprehensively evaluated the participating architects' portfolios, site conditions, connectivity, and ripple effects in selecting the candidate sites, so I am very much looking forward to the proposals to be submitted in October."

Ha Seongtae, Director of the City’s Housing and Architecture Bureau, said, "Although there were concerns about the first-ever Special Architectural District Revitalization Pilot Project, thanks to the great interest of our citizens, we were able to discover and select a variety of candidate sites that meet the purpose of the project. We will do our best to smoothly implement this pilot project, not only to strengthen capabilities through collaboration with local architects but also to greatly revitalize the local construction industry."