Hyunmi Kim of Sejong City Council Urges Citizen Participation
in Urban Management Plans Through 2030
There has been a call for Sejong City to take a leading role in the construction of the Multifunctional Administrative City (Sejong City), which the government is pursuing through 2030.
Hyunmi Kim, Sejong City Council Member. Photo by Public Relations Planning Team, Secretariat of the Council
On November 11, during the first plenary session of the 102nd regular meeting, Hyunmi Kim, a member of the Sejong City Council, delivered a five-minute speech, stating, "The 2030 Sejong Urban Management Plan should be reorganized with a focus on citizen participation," and emphasized, "Sejong City must exercise substantial authority over urban planning in a proactive manner."
Assemblywoman Kim argued, "In this transitional period of a changing national vision and the completion of the administrative capital, Sejong’s urban vision and development axis must be newly established." She criticized, "Urban planning in Sejong City still remains centered on the central government, and the voices of citizens are not sufficiently reflected."
She further pointed out, "With the current structure in which the Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency designs the city, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) develops the sites, and Sejong City only takes over and manages completed facilities, local realities are not being reflected in the plans, and the financial burden is falling on citizens."
She insisted that, in order to realize citizen sovereignty, citizens’ opinions must be reflected in the remaining period of urban construction.
Assemblywoman Kim highlighted, "By 2030, a total of 117 public facilities will be transferred from the Construction Agency, and the costs for operation and maintenance alone are expected to exceed 25 billion won. Additionally, Sejong City will have to bear the construction costs-approximately 14.85 billion won-for five new public buildings to be built in the future."
Furthermore, she raised the issue of priorities in city operations. Assemblywoman Kim stated, "Although Sejong City already boasts the highest green space ratio in the country, the city is spending 600 million won on a 'Garden City Master Plan' and planning a project worth 29.6 billion won. With 100 village gardens and 14 wind path forests already established, establishing a maintenance and management system for existing green spaces should take precedence over creating new gardens."
Accordingly, she also presented concrete alternatives. She proposed, "Beyond merely notifying residents of urban planning through explanatory sessions, we need to establish an institutional governance structure where experts, citizens, the council, and the administration all participate from planning and coordination to evaluation. The entire area designated for release should be included as a target for reorganization, and land use plans should be improved at the living area unit level, with Sejong City taking the lead in exercising substantive urban planning authority."
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