Seoul’s development projects cast adrift

By Kim Tae-jong

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s resignation has thrown the Han River Renaissance and other large-scale development projects into a whirlwind of uncertainty.

His exit following the failure to draw a sufficient number of voters to the free school lunch referendum indicates that many Seoul residents have grown unhappy with the ambitious plans led by Oh and his predecessor President Lee Myung-bak, analysts said.

With the curtain falling on nine years of leadership from mayors from the ruling Grand National Party, the city’s major projects, which Oh had promoted despite the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s opposition, will stagnate for a while or may even be eventually scrapped altogether.

Among the major projects that could face a complete abolition is the West Sea waterway project designed to allow cruise ships access to Yeouido and other major capital areas along the Han River to the West Sea.

The construction of the waterway related-facilities has been suspended as the council, dominated by opposition Democratic Party members, cut 75.2 billion won from budget needed for the project.

With Oh now gone in disgrace, the council is expected to gain the upper hand in a number of major plans, demanding the city government abolish the waterway and other development projects.

Environmental civic groups are also mounting calls for a complete overhaul.

“Oh is the only one who pushed forward the plan despite strong opposition, and we demand the city government scrap the West Sea waterway and other anti-environment development projects,” said Shin Jae-eun, activist from the Seoul Federation of Environment Movement.

Another controversial scheme is Design Seoul.

Since his inauguration, Oh has emphasized the importance of the image of Seoul and pursued various policies to give the capital a face-lift, holding events such as Design Fair and World Design Capital with the aim of improving the quality of citizens’ life.

But he has been also criticized by citizens and civic groups who argue he simply wasted taxpayers’ money by decorating the exterior of the capital.

The Design Seoul project was the target of public criticism this summer when unusually heavy downpours claimed dozens of lives and damaged property.

Projects showing progress and some of the ongoing construction sites will survive, such as the new City Hall and Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which costs 300 and 410 billion won, respectively.

City councilors from the opposition Democratic Party said they will go in the opposite direction from Oh.

“We will focus on investing more on the development of human resources instead of massive development and construction projects requiring a huge amount of money. We hope the acting mayor will understand this,” city councilor Jang Hwan-jin said.

Until a new mayor is elected in the October by-election, Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs Kwon Young-gyu will serve as acting mayor.