Seoul to Transform G Valley from 'Zero Green Space' Industrial Zone into Mixed-Use Hub

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to redevelop the Guro-Gasan Digital Complex (G Valley), Korea's first national export industrial complex that led the nation's industrialization in the 1960s, into an integrated hub combining industry, residential, and green spaces.

The city's "Southwest Seoul Overhaul" initiative is expected to gain momentum starting with plans to build a 24-story mixed-use complex for offices and residences on the Kyohaksa publishing company site in G Valley.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the Kyohaksa site, a private development parcel within the G Valley National Industrial Complex's special planning zone, on Sunday and said, "It is time for urban planning to evolve to meet the demands of a new generation."

The Kyohaksa mixed-use development is the first private project to apply the city's revised quasi-industrial zone regulations announced in November last year.

G Valley has long been labeled a "gray city" due to prolonged industry-focused development that left workers and residents with insufficient green and leisure spaces. Parks and green areas account for 0% of G Valley's 1.92 million square meters, with approximately 150 publicly accessible open spaces created during knowledge industry center construction serving as the only greenery.

In response, the city announced its Southwest Seoul Overhaul plan in February last year to transform the area into a new economic and lifestyle center. The initiative aims to convert quasi-industrial zones, previously subject primarily to regulations and management controls, into mixed-use spaces integrating manufacturing, offices, residences, and leisure facilities.

The 15,021-square-meter Kyohaksa site will feature a complex spanning four basement levels to 24 above-ground floors, housing residences, offices, exhibition halls, galleries, sports facilities, a public library, and green spaces.

The city plans to create "urban street forests" by expanding street trees and linear green belts, while converting underutilized open spaces into greenery-focused shared gardens to reestablish G Valley as the southwest region's representative green ecological industrial district.

Additionally, the city will link the area to lifestyle and leisure networks through accelerated integrated redevelopment planning in nearby Garibong-dong and the creation of "Fun Station" at Gasan Digital Complex Station.

The city expects that expanding green spaces and cultural-leisure facilities will promote worker rest and interaction, foster creative collaboration among companies, and ultimately strengthen G Valley's industrial competitiveness.