Anyang City Urged to Scrap 100-Story Building Plan

A plan by Anyang City to construct a skyscraper has added fuel to public anger over high-cost luxury municipal buildings. The city, just south of Seoul, has announced the 100-story building plan that will require 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion). It said the ``Sky Tower'' project is designed to house the municipal administration, the city council, a business center, a convention center, a hotel and cultural facilities.

However, most people ask a question: why does the city of only 610,000 residents need such a high-rise building? Currently, the city has its own eight-story building with two-basement floors which was built in 1996 with construction costs amounting to 60 billion won ($51.8 million). It plans to demolish the building in 2014 and start the construction work for the skyscraper to be completed in 2018.

The city is under criticism for destroying the present building only after 18 years of use. Critics say that the new project would be a waste of taxpayers' money. They point out that the city could use the building for more than a century, asking how it would raise the astronomical amount of funds needed for the construction of the mega building. They are skeptical that the municipal authorities could succeed in its plan to raise the funds from the private sector.

A more serious problem is that the city has already a debt of 71 billion won. It only meets 65 percent of its budget, while making up for the shortfall by receiving grants from the central government. In every respect, the skyscraper project is a reckless one without any practical purpose and lacking the financial means. In particular, several high-rise commercial buildings with more than 100 stories will be built in Jamsil and Sangam in Seoul as well as in Songdo, Incheon, and Haeundae, Busan.

Against this backdrop, concerns are growing of an oversupply of commercial buildings across the country. Even if Anyang City can succeed in taping private capital and completing its project, no one is convinced that it can lease the vast floor space to tenants as planned. So, if it fails to do so, the city will have no other choice but to pass the financial burden onto taxpayers. In a worst-case scenario, the city may face bankruptcy.

The city needs to pay more attention to public criticism over some cities and districts which spent huge sums on the construction of luxury municipal buildings. Seongnam City poured 322 billion won, followed by Yongin City (197 billion won) and Yongsan-gu in Seoul (151 billion won). It's time for Anyang to scrap the unfeasible project in order to avoid the mistakes made by other cities. Voters should have their feelings known on the issue in the upcoming June local elections if the city refuses to respect their voices against the risky plan.