The link between metropolitan planning and transit-oriented development: An examination of the Rosario Plan in 1980 for Seoul, South Korea

Abstract

This study explores the 1980s Rosario proposal for Seoul and its implementation as part of the urban planning of the city, based on the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD), as an instrument to meet the challenges of housing shortage and road-traffic congestion. The proposal originated as a metropolitan scale plan to decentralize the old mono-centric spatial structure of the rapidly urbanized city with subway networks, and further included a prototype featuring TOD in an individual subway station area. The integrated approach was an attempt to develop diverse value-capture strategies for self-sustaining transit systems. The Seoul city government included this concept in its first official comprehensive plan in 1990, and has since contributed to Seoul's development towards becoming a transit-oriented city. This study provides valuable evidence for cities in the developing world that have aspirations to become transit-oriented.