<Land Readjustment Module 4>
 
Okay, Gangnam development case. I will show you how Gangnam was developed from planning to the urban form change.
 
These are the pictures before Land Readjustment. Up until the mid-1960’s, Gangnam was an agricultural village outside of Seoul. It was located outside of Seoul’s boundary. This area produced vegetable, fruits and rice to the citizens of Seoul. As you can see, some rice fields, fruit fields and some agricultural areas.And these are the plans for Gangnam’s development in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
 
They envisioned a new urban setting in the Gangnam area. Higher density, three or four story apartment complexes and concentrated development around the new civic centers, a new vibrant and urban development was envisioned This diagram shows the overall formation of the Gangnam area. Before the development it was pretty much a rural area. Then there was a big event, which was the construction of the third Han River Bridge. That time in Seoul, there were only two bridges in the west and southern parts and this was the new bridge linking the old town to the south-eastern part of the land.
 
And this project is linked to the Gyeongbu Express Highway which links Seoul to Busan. This big transportation infrastructure pressures the surrounding areas into development and this is the Gangnam area in its early stage of development. And development expands further and further to outside the area and Seoul prepares the second phase of the development. With the continual development, Gangnam is now fully developed.
 
This is a picture of the third Han River Bridge. Gangnam area was chosen mainly because this was a very cheap place relative to other areas. The old town’s housing and land prices grew so high that Seoul needed a new territory for development with lower cost and Gangnam was strategically selected.
 
The third Han River Bridge, now called Hannam Bridge, opened up a new territory for development to accommodate for the growing population and business.These are the pictures showing the early stages of Land Readjustment in the Gangnam area. So you can see the early trunk infrastructure and development.
 
This picture is quite controversial because the Seoul government decided to reverse the development sequence because of financial issues. In this picture, you can see the housing complex with little infrastructure for transportation. Because Seoul Metropolitan Government lacked the budget to supply all the infrastructure upfront, Seoul government decided to provide new land and new housing which were sold to raise the revenue to provide the infrastructure.
 
Although conventionally housing and building development comes after site development, this kind of development depends on the context. If the municipality or the state doesn’t have enough revenue, this might be an appropriate approach to develop new urban areas.
 
This is the picture that shows the change in land use. Around the 1960’s before Land Readjustment, it’s pretty much a rural setting. The Han River also is in its natural setting and the rice crop areas. This is the picture of Gangnam in 1974.You can see some degree of development in the Gangnam area and this is the Jamsil area where another big Land Readjustment takes place.
 
In the next slide, you can see the further development starting with Gangnam to areas in its vicinity. And you can see the fully developed Gangnam in its present state. This picture shows the urban form, and also highlights some functions of urban planning. This picture is of Gangnam in its early stages and its sequential development.
 
But I want to say that urban plan is not a blueprint for construction, so the government did not build all the infrastructures necessary to development yet although they provided some trunk infrastructures. The planning is a framework for communicating with private development and it guides the development into the right direction so the public sector can continue to develop the city’s infrastructure in the right direction.