Administrative City Plans Taking Shape

The government held its ninth meeting of the Committee on Administrative City Construction and the second meeting of the committee presided over by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan on December 15.

The participants agreed in the meetings that the multifunctional administrative city in Yeongi and Gongju, South Choongcheong Province would have an urban plan that encompasses eight cities and counties and Daejeon. The center of the administrative city will also be a green zone, while its suburbs will be developed as the downtown area.

The government decided to designate Daejeon and eight cities and counties in Choongcheong Province (area: 3598 km²), including Yeongi, Gongju, Gyeryong, part of Cheongan, Cheongju, Cheongwon, Jincheon, and Jeungpyeong as the Metropolitan Planning Area where it will build an administrative city.

Under the plan, the government aims to pursue the construction of the administrative city, taking into account the product purchase conditions of the nine cities and counties, commuting and connectivity to the administrative city.

It also plans to give the city a double ring-shaped structure. The central part of the city will be reserved as an environmental and ecological area, while the suburbs will be developed for administration, residence and commerce purposes.

In particular, the suburban areas will be developed with a round-shaped public transportation network with a circumference of about 20 kilometers. The government plans to ensure that every destination in the city can be reached within 20 minutes.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation will finalize its plan for Metropolitan Planning Area sometime this month and make plans for the future course of the area up until the first half of 2006. It will also devise regional central city plans through the first half of 2007.

Hyung-June Park lovesong@donga.com