초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Downtown area in Seoul has gone through a lot of changes during the last 15 years of local autonomy. Cheonggye-cheon has been restored, and City Hall plaza occupied by cars became pedestrian plaza. Redevelopment projects are still in progress. Dongdaemun stadium was torn down and Dongdaemun Design Plaza(DDP) is under construction. Some of the car-oriented streets have been transformed into carfree streets, and pedestrian crosswalks have been restored on Sejong-no intersection where there were only underpasses. The purpose of this research is to evaluate citizen’s perception and the diversity in perception by surveying and analyzing how citizens view the physical changes in downtown Seoul during the last 15 years of local autonomy. 20 major downtown projects implemented in the era of local autonomy were selected for the study, and the study conducted a survey of 266 people including 200 ordinary citizen and 66 in special groups such as native Seoulites, foreigners, NGO activists, professionals, officials and councilors of Seoul Metropolitan Government, and analyzed respondents’ level of awareness and satisfaction. Respondents’ perception on the downtown projects’ contribution to establish the identity of Seoul and to the improvement of urban environment was also analyzed. The analysis shows the following findings:1) Citizen’s evaluations on 20 major projects were quite different. Cheonggyecheon restoration and transit-oriented policy were highly evaluated. The projects on historic conservation and improvements of pedestrian environment received positive evaluation regarding satisfaction and contribution. Development projects such as new city hall, downtown redevelopment projects and DDP, on the other hand, got a negative evaluation. 2) Citizen’s perception on the physical changes in downtown Seoul is quite different depending on the respondents’ social position. Ordinary citizens and foreigners showed similar perception that they remained neutral about the changes in downtown. Native Seoulites, NGO activists and professionals showed critical perception while government officials and city councilors showed very positive attitudes on most downtown projects. Based on these findings, here is a summary of the possible implications on downtown policy; to strengthen historic conservation policy, to change transportation policy from car-oriented to pedestrian and transit-oriented, and to reconsider development and redevelopment projects in downtown Seoul.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Seoul, downtown, change, perception, identity, local autonomy
