By 2030, the city of Seoul will have evolved into a city with a highly convenient transport system, where people will not need to rely on their cars. Seoul Transport Vision 2030
Background
South Korea has undergone urbanization in the process of industrialization more quickly than most other cities in the world. The urban population in South Korea accounted for 45.3% of the national population in 1995, and by 2013, it increased to 49.6% accounting for a half of total population concentrated in the capital area.
Challenge
Korea’s rapid urbanization led to an increase in private car ownership. Korea has the second highest vehicle density on the OECD. This has led to not only widened road ways that have reduced pedestrian spaces, but also seen a steady rise in traffic congestion whose economic loss was about US$6 billion annually in the early 2000s.
Successes
Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2013 announced its Seoul Transport Vision 2030, a mobility paradigm shift that aims to create a people-centric transport system focusing on public transport, pedestrians and cyclists. It is a long-term plan encompassing all forms of traffic and transportation, including doubling of the surface area of sidewalks in downtown and expanding the public bicycle rental service in Seoul, which will enable people to ride by bicycle everywhere in town. The proposal is built upon the three core values of ‘People, Sharing, and Environment’.
Seoul’s Transport Vision and Policy aims to put people first by:
- Putting priority on pedestrians & cyclists
- Reducing traffic fatalities
- Ensuring universal mobility for those with limited access to transport
Additionally, in the Plan, SMG also states that they will provide free public bicycle service throughout the city with four main components: -
- Expansion of the public bicycle rental service in Seoul, similar to the VELIB (public bicycle sharing system) in Paris, France, which will enable people to bike everywhere in the city.
- Reinforcement of the connection with public transportation by extending bicycle paths to public residential areas.
- Extension of the public bicycle service to the main parts of the city.
- Connection of the public bicycle service with existing rental services operating under each district office and along the Han River.
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