Seoul

City layout

Street patterns in the city centre north of the river are basically on a rectangular grid. Streets and buildings stretch out from the sites of the old city wall’s four major gates: Bukdaemun (“Great North Gate”), located near the top of Mount Pugak (Bugak) in the northern part of the city; Tongdaemun (“Great East Gate”); Namdaemun (“Great South Gate”), a designated national treasure whose wooden superstructure was destroyed by fire in 2008 (the rebuilt gate was reopened in 2013); and Sŏdaemun (“Great West Gate”). Outward from these gates the city extends toward the neighbourhoods (dong) of Mia and Suyu to the north and Ch’ŏngnyangni to the east, the districts (gu) of Yongsan and Yŏngdŭng-p’o to the south, and Map’o district and Hongje neighbourhood to the west. Main streets, such as Ŭlchi-ro (Euljiro) and Chong-no (Jongno), are oriented east to west, but, toward the foot of the surrounding hills, topographic irregularities have some influence on the pattern. Outside the basin area of the central city, however, there are a number of radiating streets, which are interconnected by a series of concentric circular roads. Many government office buildings are concentrated along Sejong-no, although the National Assembly building is on Yŏŭi (Yeoui) Island; banks, department stores, and other business offices are located along Namdaemun-no and T’aep’yŏng-no (Taepyeongno).

The two parts of Seoul lying on either side of the Han River show its historical development. The old city, sometimes known today as the North City, was founded in 1394, when it was chosen to be the capital of the Chosŏn dynasty. Its central district, inside the four gates, was planned and has a rectangular street pattern. Kyŏngbok (Gyeongbok) Palace, the main palace of the dynasty, stands in the north-central part of the district, while the royal shrine of Chongmyo (Jongmyo) and the Sajikdan (the royal altar) are located to the east and west, respectively. The city outside the four gates and walls developed slowly and to a limited extent until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1934 the Japanese regime introduced a modern but basic city-plan system that affected mainly the Japanese residential areas along the railways. The marked population increase after World War II motivated the city to extend the road system of the city, but the framework of the earlier system remains.

In the mid-1960s a plan was developed to expand and modernize Seoul that included the acquisition of farmland south of the river from neighbouring provinces. However, except for the Yŏngdŭng-p’o district in the southwest, the land south of the Han River remained green until the 1970s. With the strong financial support of the central government, the South City grew to a population of some five million in only one generation.