▲ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon gives a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony of the startup fair 'Try Everything 2026' held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 9th. (Photo: Yonhap News)
The ambitious "G3 Seoul Plan," unveiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 10th, pursues two main directions.
The city aims to elevate Seoul into a top global city competing with New York, London, and Tokyo, while simultaneously translating that competitiveness into improvements in the quality of life for individual citizens.
To achieve this, the city has established one overarching vision, "Global Top, Quality of Life Special City Seoul," underpinned by five future directions, 20 strategic goals, and 100 core tasks.
Virtually all areas of municipal administration, ranging from health and safety to welfare, education, housing, youth and jobs, culture and industry, transportation, and urban space, have been reorganized into a single future blueprint.
◇ Securing 1 Million Square Meters of Additional Parks and Green Spaces with Exercise Facilities Within 10 Minutes from Home
The first future vision presented for Seoul is a "Health and Safety City."
The goal is to support healthy lives for citizens and make daily life safe.
Seoul is shifting from reacting after treatments or accidents occur to proactively managing health and risks within everyday residential areas.
A representative core task is the "10-Minute Exercise Zone Right in Front of My House."
To enable residents to start exercising within 10 minutes from home, the city will increase the number of Seoul Fitness Centers from the current 20 to 100 and expand "Fun Stations" in idle subway spaces across all autonomous districts.
It will also introduce "Mind Fit 36.5," which analyzes mental health states using artificial intelligence (AI) and connects users with digital treatments and specialized institutions.
Green spaces and safety are also grouped into the same neighborhood-level concept.
The city will secure an additional 1 million square meters of parks and green spaces by 2030 and expand school zone walkways, intelligent closed-circuit televisions (CCTV), and alley lighting environments through the "24-Hour Living Safety Zone."
Another future vision, the "Inclusive Growth City," aims for a warm Seoul that grows together.
The plan ensures that even those living alone or alienated from education and care can rediscover relationships and opportunities within the city.
Through "Loneliness-Free Seoul 2.0," the city will expand Seoul Mind Convenience Stores to all autonomous districts and operate "Seoul Solo Dining Companion" for single-person households to dine together.
The online education platform Seoul Learn will be expanded into offline coaching centers, and its eligibility criteria will be relaxed from 80% or less of the median income to 100% or less.
By 2030, nine play spaces tailored to different growth stages will be established, and Seoul-style kids' cafes will be expanded to 430 locations.
◇ Supplying 310,000 Housing Units by 2031 Through Rapid Integration Planning... 130,000 Public Housing Units for Youths and Newlyweds
A "Housing Stability City" was also presented as a future vision.
The aim is to reduce housing worries and enhance the quality of life.
The core lies in linking expanded housing supply and life-cycle housing ladders into a single policy.
Through "Rapid Integrated Planning," a core urban maintenance policy of Seoul, the city will push for the ground-breaking of 310,000 units by 2031, along with 40,000 Moa Housing units, and supply 130,000 public housing units.
While supplying 6,500 units of the Seoul-style public pre-sale housing "Baro Naejip," the city will expand housing support across all age groups, ranging from youths and newlyweds to seniors and middle-aged residents.
Jeonse fraud will be tackled with a "three-tier defense barrier" consisting of risk analysis before contract signing, accompaniment by housing safety managers on the day of signing, and support for return guarantee fees after signing.
Through the "Opportunity Dynamic City" initiative, Seoul will foster a city where youths take a leap forward and the future is vibrant.
Youths, global talent, AI and advanced industries, and culture serve as the core growth engines.
The city will promote the "Youth AI Ladder," providing AI access passes and basic education to 500,000 youths regardless of income, connecting practical job experience and specialized education to employment and entrepreneurship.
By supplying 74,000 units of "Youth Housing Deodeuljib+," the city will link employment and housing policies while supporting foreign master's and doctoral-level talent from immigration to housing and settlement.
The city's "night" will also be transformed into an economic resource to drive the "revitalization of the nighttime economy."
By extending operating hours for sports and cultural facilities and expanding nighttime stay contents along the Han River, Namsan, and Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul will create a "24-Hour Vibrant Economic City."
By region, industrial hubs will be established for bio and medical, media and entertainment, K-culture, AI and robotics, and finance.
◇ Fostering Metropolitan Centers Including Sangam, Gasan, Changdong, and Gangil... Operating 500 Autonomous Buses
A "Spatial Innovation City" was also presented as a future vision for Seoul.
To achieve this, the urban structure will be polycentric so that jobs, culture, and living services are not concentrated in a few downtown areas, and these areas will be connected via public transportation and autonomous driving.
In addition to downtown Seoul, Yeouido, and Gangnam, Sangam-Suseok, Gasan-Guro, Changdong-Sanggye, and Godeok-Gangil will be fostered as four major metropolitan centers, alongside 350 "pedestrian daily-life-centric" neighborhoods.
Available sites such as railway vehicle depots will be developed into "Youth Future Towns" combining housing, jobs, and communities.
The core means connecting these spaces is transportation.
Autonomous buses will be increased from the current 16 to 500 by 2030, and transportation blind spots will be reduced by utilizing the "ART index," which evaluates whether fast public transportation is accessible within a 10-minute walk.
Demonstrations of Level 4 robotaxis and urban air mobility (UAM) pilot cities will also be promoted.
The five future visions translate the abstract goal of being one of the "world's top 3 cities" into the daily lives of citizens.
The city intends to build a Seoul where residents can look after their health close to home, receive necessary care and education, secure stable housing and job opportunities, enjoy culture and leisure, and move around conveniently regardless of where they live.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to finalize targets, schedules, financial resources, and performance indicators for each of the 100 core tasks by the end of the year to manage implementation progress.
(Photo courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yonhap News)
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