From urban barrier to urban connector

Abstract

After the Truce agreement following the Korean War (6.25.1950), Seoul, the capital of Korea has brought boasting of the rapid development with abundant human resources. It expanded to the point where Seoul houses 40% of the nation?s entire population. This gives the competi¬tiveness of Korea but at the same time, it has taken place at a rate that has left little time for critical reflection or adaptation. Also, even though Seoul in Korea is situated in between China and Japan. It has been a place where both those different cultures meet and economically con¬nect each other in northeast Asia. They need their identities to improve a continued geographical condition. It would be to say a turning point regarding questions such as, where does Seoul stand now? Where is it heading? In addition, during the last half century, the interchanges between South Korea and North Korea have started the engine nowadays and it is looking ahead to the future. Moreover, the MOA (Memorandum of agreement) regarding the relocation of The Yongsan military base, where the U.S military have located in Seoul for almost 60 years, was accorded by the Korean and U.S. government in 1990. Although Yongsan has been the cultural, economic, and symbolic place to be a good profitable centre for Seoul, the military base has become a big obstruction intercepting the access of the flow of transportation, economic production, and Seoul citizens. In addition, the closured situation of Yongsan raises problems such as the infringement of the urban plan and property rights, unbalanced development, environmental pollution, and the defamation of the national image. Moreover, the constructions of the War Museum, Yongsan Family Park, and the National Central Museum without the long-term master plan have caused more confusion about the adequate development goals and objectives. Like this, the move¬ment away from military facilities has been a hot issue in recent years. Meanwhile, the process of military base relocation and the role of planning in the transition to civilian uses are very much a topic of debate in Korea. From this point of view, Yongsan?s redevelopment gives rise to the necessity to investigate the potential practical use and urban spatial value. With the urban infra-establishment, it needs to set up the direction of transformation of restored Yongsan in the long run. Therefore, on the basis of these preconditions, the goal of the project could be to find out how to intervene to dissolve the existing barrier of the former military base in order to connect yongsan to the glocal network.