*3.2. Seoul's Modern Urban Planning*

### 3.2.1. Urban Renewal in Seoul

The predecessor of Kyungsung was Hanyang during the Joseon dynasty. Hanyang was designed under the influence of Feng Shui, and the arrangement of spaces such as Jongmyo Shrine, Sajikdan Alter, the palace, and government offices were influenced by the Chinese capital-city system based on Kaogongji. Jongmyo (1395) is the supreme state shrine where the royal ancestral tablets of deceased kings and queens are enshrined, and sacrificial rites are performed for them. Sajikdan Altar is an ancient altar for memorial services whose name, 'Sajikdan', means to 'pray for the comfort and prosperity of the country and its people' [28] (Figure 2).

With the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904, Japan gained the right to provide administrative advice and turned Korea into a protectorate under the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, establishing the Japanese Resident-General of Korea. Then, the Government-General of Joseon was created after the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910. Seoul's urban renewal aimed at improving transport convenience and renewing the city's outer look, as shown by the focus on renovating roads and the fact that the project was expedited to show off before the Joseon Industrial Exhibition in 1915 and the Joseon Exhibition in 1929.

In Seoul, urban planning was led by administrators, and urban renewal was implemented by Ito Hirobumi, the Resident-General of Korea at that time [ ¯ 7]. Urban renewal implemented by the Resident-General of Korea began with Namdaemun Road Rebuilding in 1907 to operate trams. The Government-General of Joseon rebuilt the remaining parts of Gold Town Street as part of the State-funded road paving in 1911 and put forward the notice 'Line 29 Planned for Urban Renewal' in 1912 [7]. The plan arranged grid roads, a circular square, and radial line roads around Jongno and Namdaemun. Roads in the south and north directions were mainly rebuilt, and the only completed road in the east and west directions was a line connecting the square in front of Daehanmun, Gold Town Street, and the outside of Gwanghuimun. Urban renewal was not implemented for the roads which had already enough width.

In June 1919, urban renewal was launched, which included downtown expansion around Yongsan and Mapo and revisions to the original plan. Roads connecting to Yongsan were added, and streets placed radially around the square were removed. Instead, radial line roads in front of Gwanghwamun were newly added.

Due to financial reasons, the urban renewal project had been transferred from the Government-General to Gyeongseong Prefecture since 1929 [8]. According to Gyeongseong Downtown Planned Street Network Map in 1936, the number of streets reached 220 and roads from inside the fortress walls were rebuilt and connected to other cities.

#### 3.2.2. Joseon City Planning Ordinance

The Joseon City Planning Ordinance was Korea's first modern city planning law enacted in 1934. In 1936, the Joseon City Planning Ordinance applied to Kyungseong Prefecture, following Najin. In December 1936, the Kyungseong Downtown Planned Street Network Map was determined with No. 722. In Joseon, there was some movement for the City Planning Ordinance in 1922 when the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Government-General drew up a draft city planning law, but it had been discontinued for quite some time [8]. In December 1927, it was re-discussed as Governor-General Yamanashi Hanzo¯ of Korea and Inspector-General Shirou Ikegami of Political Affairs were inaugurated [8]. Ikegami served as Osaka Mayor and attempted urban planning several times in Japan. In January 1928, the Urban Planning Research Association filed a motion to implement a 'complete city planning law' which included the Urban Planning Committee, land readjustment, zoning, and benefit principles [8]. Okazaki Shotaro, who was a renowned figure in urban planning, was invited and the Joseon Downtown Planning Ordinance was completed in July 1931 [8]. However, since the second half of 1931, right after Kazushige Ugaki was appointed as Governor-General, the direction of urban planning was changed due to Joseon industrialization policies, and discussions began again on the city planning law to accommodate the changed direction [8]. At that time, the City Planning Law was acknowledged in Japan as a tool for the State to efficiently mobilize resources such as land or population, not to tackle urban problems; therefore, the law was revised in a way that tightened control (Table 1). As the City Planning Ordinance was proposed, the Temporary Urban Planning Section was reorganized into the official Urban Planning Section under the Department of Civil Works, and the Kyungseong Urban Planning Survey Committee was organized in July 1933. While the original City Planning Ordinance followed the Japanese legal system, it accepted opinions on 'matters required to rule Joseon and ensure industrial status,' and a draft was completed in the early 1933 and announced in June 1934, after government review in homeland Japan [29]. It was mainly about items subject to urban planning, authority for urban planning, land readjustment, and zoning. Compared to the lines planned for urban renewal, this phase expanded the planned areas and adopted the metric system as a unit for street width as per regional expansion under Government-General Ordinance No. 8 on 14 February 1936. The Joseon City Planning Ordinance was characterized by the fact that it mainly focused on setting up planned streets and land readjustment districts. The ordinance emphasized that it was a national project, granted all decision-making and enforcement rights to the Governor-General, and did not establish an advisory body with legal status, unlike Japan. For zoning, it set forth unspecified areas that had no particular aims as well as industrial, commercial, and residential areas.

In Japan, Seoul urban planning was evaluated as advanced 'Even though the administrative agency needs to implement this urban planning project all together since Joseon has a lack of knowledge and experience and its people's level is low' [30]. In addition, it was also assessed that 'There is little progress in land readjustment projects in Japan since there are too many discussions as associations implement them, but this project is expected to make smooth progress in Joseon as it is implemented by the State' [31].


**Table 1.** Major enforcement event of urban renewal plan and city planning law in Tokyo, Taipei, Seoul, and Beijing(Light Gray: Urban renewal, Dark Gray: City planning law).

#### 3.2.3. Applicable Building Codes

The first building code introduced in Korea was applied to Japanese people living in Joseon such as Taiwan. The implementation of the building code began in residential areas for Japanese people in opened ports, and the scope of the law broadened as the residential areas of Japanese people spread more widely. Unlike opened ports, no law governing buildings was found for Seoul, and roof material regulations for fire protection and house regulations for parts in contact with roads were put in place [27]. On 17 April 1911, the Road Rules and the Land Expropriation Ordinance were applied. In February 1913, Government-General Ordinance No. 11 Downtown Building Control Rules was issued. The Downtown Building Control Rules were set up without direct relations to urban renewal. The rules defined building coverage ratio, building lines, building materials, associated facilities, aesthetics, and disaster prevention. The Downtown Building Control Rules were incorporated into a single urban building code by the Joseon City Planning Ordinance in 1934.

#### *3.3. Beijing's Modern Urban Planning*
