Uiwang City Mayor Kim Seong-je says, “We will make Uiwang a luxury city"
Uiwang City is working on more than 10 development projects at the same time.
In addition to the urban development projects in Gocheon Happiness Town, Wanggok Medical and Bio Complex Town, and Omaegi District, the third new city project is also being promoted.
Uiwang City Mayor Kim Seong-je is the person who led the Sangjeonbyeokhae of Uiwang City.
"By 2030, when housing development, apartment construction, and railway projects are completed, Uiwang City will become the city with the best environmental, educational and cultural standards in the metropolitan area," he stressed.
Local governments in the Seoul metropolitan area say in unison that growth has stopped due to regulations on overcrowded control zones and development restrictions (green belts).
Among them, Uiwang City, along with Hanam City, was selected as the local government with the highest proportion of green belts in the metropolitan area. Kim became the mayor in 2010 and pushed for the lifting of the green belt and development at the same time.
Twelve years later, Uiwang City has developed industrial complexes for self-sufficiency, such as Foil Intelligent Town and Uiwang Techno Park, and projects in Baegun Valley and Jangan District have also come to an end.
Among them, the Baegun Valley project is considered Mayor Kim's biggest achievement.
It is a project to create a residential, business, and leisure complex on a site of about 900,000㎡ along Baegun Lake.
Baegun Lake is famous for its beautiful scenery. Cheonggye Mountain, Udamsan Mountain, Barasan Mountain, and Moraksan Mountain surrounded the entire business district in a cozy manner, but the development was slow due to traffic problems.
The construction of a residential complex in Baegun Valley has recently reached its final stage, and a luxury outlet (Lotte Premium Outlet, Time Villas) has also opened to attract people from nearby areas.
Mayor Kim explains that the transformation of Baegun Valley is not over.
"We will attract a general hospital in Baegun Valley and create a luxury lake park through a green belt damage restoration project," he said. "We are also pushing to attract a theme park (Moomin Land) using Finland's national character 'Moomin'."
Moomin is a character who healed the war wounds of the Finnish people after World War II and is perfect for the healing and eco-friendly image pursued by Baegun Lake.
Mayor Kim said, "We will also hold a fountain performance comparable to the 'Luna Show' in Dongtan Lake Park."
Uiwang City is as elongated as a sweet potato and is divided into three regions: Bugok-dong (south), Gocheon and Ojeon-dong (central), and Naeson and Cheonggye-dong (north).
Mayor Kim's plan is to develop the southern part centered on Wangsong Lake, Uiwang Rail Bike, and the third new city, modernize industrial areas in the central part, and turn the northern part with Baegun Lake into a luxury residential and educational complex.
With the aim of integrating the divided living areas, it is also planning to build a new road between regions connecting Cheonggye-Ojeon-dong and Bugok-Gocheon-dong.
Mayor Kim said, "If the Dongtan-Indeokwon Line, Wolgot-Pangyo Line, and the GTX-C Line of the Gyeonggang Line are completed and Uiwang Station of the Wirye-Gwacheon Line is linked, Uiwang City will have a subway station every six dongs (administrative dong)."
Uiwang City is pushing to establish a separate "Uiwang Office of Education" independent of the existing Gunpo and Uiwang Office of Education. Several cultural and artistic centers and park projects are also planned.
Mayor Kim said, "After more than a decade of completing extensive urban development, Uiwang City will be reborn as a mid-sized city with a population of 250,000 and a city-like city with education, welfare, culture, tourism, and jobs."