About Seoul
The history of the city of Seoul dates back approximately 2,000 years, to when Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje, was located on the banks of the Hangang River in the southeastern part of what is now Seoul. Development of the city began in earnest once it was appointed the capital of the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910) in 1394. Modern Seoul began to emerge at the end of the 19th century with the construction of electrical facilities, railroads, streetcar tracks, parks, waterworks systems, schools, hospitals that was spurred by the opening of the port. From 1910-1945, however, the city was under Japanese colonial rule. The Japanese promoted a gradual industrialization of the country and city. After Korea achieved independence in 1945, the city was officially renamed Seoul Metropolitan City, but growth again suffered with the Korean War. After the war, the city grew supported by rapid industrial growth. South Korea underwent a rapid industrialization process, perhaps the most rapid ever experienced by a country. Since the 1960s, Seoul’s development can be divided largely into three phases. During the 1960s-1970s, the city suffered from serious urban issues, including increasing traffic congestion, environmental pollution, expansion of illegal settlement areas, and housing shortages. Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) responded by expanding roads and highways and building apartment complexes in illegal settlement areas. During the 1980s-1990s, SMG focused on city beautification, transit development, including building subway lines 2 – 8, and the construction of large-scale middle-class apartment complexes. During the early 21st century, the city focused on the development of Informational Technology infrastructure and environmental improvements. Given the increasing size of the city, the South Korean government attempted to move the capital city from Seoul to Gongju, approximately 120 km south. However, the move was bitterly resisted and finally stopped by the Constitutional Court of Korea. Another attempt to move government offices out of the city to Sejong City also largely failed. The SMG reports that total emissions from the city are approximately 46 Mt CO2e. The building sector, accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions (68.9%). Within the building sector, GHG emissions from households have been increasing (1.4% year-on-year between 2019 and 2020) while the emissions from the commercial sector has been decreasing (1.2% year-on-year, between 2019 and 2020). The city is currently attempting to address their emissions through various policies.
Seoul Research Paper
GHG Emission Analysis and Policy Status of
Seoul
Kwangik Wang
Introduction
Climate change effects will be felt by all, which is why national and local governments are responding to the challenges it brings. South Korea had committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020 after the 2008 G7 summit. One path towards GHG reduction was through green growth initiatives that were rolled out in five-year plans.
Green Growth
Green growth is a term to describe a path of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. The goal is to expand economic opportunities and address environmental pressures that could undermine growth. Some of the goals are efficiencies in natural resource use, reducing waste and energy consumption, removing subsidies that harm the environment, and providing greater confidence through mitigating major environmental risks.1
Local Policy Analysis
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) also pioneered their own plan towards low-carbon green growth. The result was an initiative called 2030 Green Design Seoul, that aims at “realizing a Green Competitive City by adopting Climate Adaptation · Green growth· High Temperature Adaptation” to secure the future of Seoul. Under the umbrella of the “Climate Adaptive City” several projects were created to reduce GHGs, they included the energy, transportation, and building sectors to achieve these goals.
Building Scale Analysis
An analysis of building level energy use was also conducted as part of this research study. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport provides monthly and annual electricity and gas consumption data. The study took 2015 and 2017 consumption data to compare the spatial density of energy consumption in Seoul. The same was done for the population density in Seoul to compare the relative change across the area.
Conclusion
Some major takeaways from the analysis were that even though the population in Seoul decreased, there were still areas of the city that saw growth in electricity and gas consumption. Also while the national and local green growth policies are progressive, they need to be tied more closely with physical spaces and specialized. One area that could use more focus is the spatial planning around local energy sources and the reduction of energy consumption to achieve GHG reduction goals.