Creating a “‘Walkable Seoul’ to ensure the rights of pedestrians" is the underlying principle of Seoul’s transportation policies, says SHIN Yong-mok, head of the City Transportation Headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. As the man in charge of the city’s transportation system, he places a higher priority on pedestrians than on vehicles as he believes that every pedestrian has the right to safety in line with the right to pursue happiness and the right to live in a healthy, pleasant environment, as stipulated by the Constitution.
 
“Rapid industrialization has compelled Seoul to adopt vehicle-oriented urban planning policies, which eventually led to the loss of the natural way of life. We’re working on making Seoul a ‘walkable city’ where pedestrians come first and their rights are ensured,” SHIN added.
 
Last year, the traffic fatality rate of the city was 3.7 per 100,000 people, one of the lowest levels in the country. But pedestrians make up a whopping 54% of those traffic fatalities - one of the highest in all metropolitan areas. Of particular note is that a quarter of all deaths from traffic accidents occurred while pedestrians were crossing roads where there was no crosswalk. SHIN concludes that the right of pedestrians to stay safe has been seriously compromised.
 
“Even so, it has been hard to continue past attempts to curtail traffic and increase space for pedestrians because it was argued this might worsen traffic congestion. We are not aware of our ‘rights to walk and travel in a safe and pleasant environment’ but are giving up for vehicles the space that we deserve.”
 
To transform the city into ‘walkable Seoul’, SHIN decided that crosswalks are needed in all directions at intersections in the CBDs so that pedestrians do not have to take a detour to make their way across.
 
In the meantime, “Road Diet” policies will be implemented in these CBDs at the same time. Just as a healthy diet is designed to ensure a good balance, these policies are designed at reducing the road space for vehicles and assigning more of that space to pedestrians, thereby making people the center of the road systems.
 
In target areas, roads near facilities for the elderly will have traffic islands to shorten the distance pedestrians have to travel at one time. The roads will be re-designed into an S-shape to help bring down vehicle speeds.
 
Moreover, parking restriction equipment and separate parking spaces will be added to areas where pedestrian safety may be compromised due to restricted visibility from illegal parking. This variety of measures will be taken to remove hazards in a way that accommodates the needs of these local areas towards improving the pedestrian environment.
 
“Local governments have their own programs to create tourist streets, in a way like the furniture street in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, was created. We plan on making our policies work with these programs, allocate more space to pedestrians, and make the environment more pleasant for visitors,” SHIN explained.
 
“In the long term, our goal is to make it a joy for anyone – citizens and tourists – to walk in the city. As part of this plan, vehicles will not be allowed to use Sejong Avenue on the first Sunday of every month and the roads in front of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) on the third Sunday of every month, to allow these spaces to be used by pedestrians only. We have plans such as these that will take place at different times,” SHIN added.

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