Sasang Station, a key transit hub in western Busan, is being reshaped as a testing ground for an urban design experiment centered on "emptying." The approach involves removing densely stacked public facilities to strengthen walkability and lingering functions.
The Busan Metropolitan Government announced Monday that it will break ground on the "Urban Emptying Project" covering a 658-meter section around Sasang Station starting Tuesday. The project focuses on restoring urban landscapes damaged by excessive facility installations and transforming the area into a pedestrian-oriented space. The section currently contains 248 facilities installed by 25 different agencies, causing pedestrian congestion and visual fatigue.
The city will demolish, consolidate, or reorganize 210 of these facilities, or 84.7 percent. The distinguishing feature is that the project goes beyond simple maintenance, emphasizing "what to remove" rather than "what to add" in the city. The intention is to shift the urban design paradigm from a supply-centered approach to one centered on user experience.
The key improvement points are pedestrian bottleneck sections. In front of Exit 5 of Sasang Station and the intercity bus terminal, unnecessary flower beds, bollards, and information facilities will be reorganized, and the crosswalk will be expanded from the current 7 meters to 14 meters. The area around Exit 3 will see neglected spaces improved to enhance the pedestrian environment, while the large ventilation shaft near the Sasang intersection will be relocated to secure both safety and space utilization.
In particular, the area around Exit 6 will shift in character from a "passing space" to a "lingering space." The plan is to reconfigure it as an open plaza-type space where citizens can naturally stay and communicate, serving as a hub connecting fragmented urban spaces.
The project has a strong character as a representative urban space innovation case within the city's "2028 World Design Capital" strategy. It reflects global urban design trends that move away from function-centered facility installation to emphasize the quality and experience of space. The city plans to expand similar "urban emptying" projects across Busan.
From an urban planning perspective, this project is closer to a "public space reallocation" experiment than simple environmental maintenance. It is interpreted as a "low-cost, high-efficiency" strategy that slims down urban infrastructure that has grown bloated due to excessive regulation and duplicate installations while simultaneously improving walkability, lingering, and landscape. Its policy scalability draws attention, particularly because it can rapidly enhance citizens' perceived quality of life without large-scale development.
"Simply removing unnecessary elements can significantly change the dignity and usage efficiency of a city," a city official said. "Starting with Sasang Station, we will expand people-centered space innovation across the entire city."
