Busan Port is the world’s fifth busiest container port and the tenth busiest port in North East Asia. The Busan Port Authority (BPA), which was established in 2004, is in charge of its development, management, and operation.
Busan Port has four modern, fully equipped ports – North Port, South Port, Gamcheon Port, and Dadaepo Port – an international passenger terminal, and six container terminals. The port has a 26.8km quay wall that allows it to berth 169 vessels simultaneously and handle 91 million tons of cargo per year.
According to the BPA, North Port is being redeveloped to accommodate new commercial business districts, maritime culture zones, IT and video exhibitions, and waterfront to revitalize Busan’s old downtown area, which includes the Jung gu and Dong gu districts. The redevelopment project is expected to generate USD28 billion in economic impact and employ 120,000 people.
The Busan North Port Redevelopment Project is being carried out in two phases.
To relieve cargo congestion in Busan Port, the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries (MOMAF) decided to build a new port 20 kilometers west of Busan in 1997. After Busan New Port opened in 2006 with cutting-edge technology and infrastructure, Busan North Port is under pressure to reshape Busan’s port functions and revitalize the old city center around the port.
The Busan Port Authority (BPA) is in charge of the North Port Redevelopment, which aims to revitalize and attract tourists to Busan’s old downtown. A new international passenger terminal building, cruise port, high-end residential facilities, commercial facilities, business facilities, cultural facilities, and so on are all part of the project.
In 2017, the Busan Port Authority (BPA) launched a citizen-led project to create a leisure destination for visitors while also contributing to local commerce and job creation, as well as creating social value. The goal of the project is to better integrate ports into cities while also developing tourism, culture, and commerce to revitalize the ports and surrounding areas.
The primary goals for the Busan North Port redevelopment are ‘public space and mixed use,’ ‘pedestrian connection and environmental resetting,’ ‘industrial heritage reuse,’ and ‘eco-friendliness and sustainability.’ The project also includes a MICE district that will house an exhibition, conference, and accommodation facility for the 2030 World Expo, a silo complex, and the Busanjin terrace region.
The redevelopment project is divided into two construction phases. The first phase of the construction project is to build four new facilities between Dock No. 4 and the nearby North Port passenger terminal. Following the opening of several public facilities in May, major facilities in the first phase of construction are expected to be reborn as a space for citizens to visit when the area’s roads and bridges open at the end of this year.
The second phase of the construction project spans 2.28 million square meters across Dong-gu and Jung-gu, including Busan Station, Busanjin Station, and Jaseongdae wharf. Busan City is striving to integrate its regional identity into the second phase of the Busan Port North Port redevelopment project, which is critical to the success of the 2030 Busan World Expo.
The relocation of the US Army Busan Storage Center is controversial
Busan has repeatedly requested that the Ministry of National Defense relocate the Busan Storage Center (also known as 55 Supply Depot) so that it can be used as a venue for the 2030 Busan World Expo. The city plans to use the US Army Storage facility as the 2030 Busan Expo Commemorative Park. The completion of its relocation will result in the creation of 233,000 square meters of green space in the North Port and the original downtown area.
The US Army Busan Storage Center’s history can be traced back to the early stages of the Korean War, when the 55th Quarter Base Depot, based in Shinagawa on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, arrived in Korea in late August 1950. It established its Headquarters and Staff Elements on the current Busan Storage site, with the mission of providing Quartermaster and equipment support to the Eighth United States Army/US Forces.
Metropolitan City and the Dong-gu office are actively campaigning for the relocation of the Busan Storage Center, bringing up the benefits of being able to use major areas of the city center for the third stage of North Port redevelopment following the Expo, as well as the remodeling of the original city center.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has recently announced that the US Army Busan Storage Cente (the US Army 55 supply depot) will be relocated to Sinseondae Pier, which will be the focal point of the second phase of the North Port project and the primary task of the 2030 Busan World Expo.
However, the Nam-gu Office is opposed to the MOMAF’s decision to relocate. Because Nam-gu already has many military facilities, such as the Naval Operations Command, Army 2nd Supply Squadron, and Port Operations Group, relocating the Busan Storage Center to Sinseondae Pier will limit urban development in the district.
Busan Metropolitan City must find a solution to relocate the Busan Storage Center before the Expo’s venue is determined in November of next year, but this appears to be difficult due to a conflict of interest between district offices.
How the demographic of Busan has changed over three decades
Many local governments in Korea are engaged in revitalization efforts to renew old downtown areas and restore them to their former prominence as a center of community activity. Busan also reaches its growth limit unless there is a sustainable urban planning and development strategy.
Busan Metropolitan City experienced urban growth but has encountered economic and population stagnation over the last 20 years. Since 2000, when population stagnation became apparent, Busan’s population density has moved to the outskirts.
Buan’s old downtown was at the heart of rapid economic growth and urbanization following the Korean War in the 1960s. However, as new commercial districts popped up, Busan’s downtown core saw a significant population and business decline.
In 1980, the central business district and the surrounding old town (Busanjin-gu, Seo-gu, Dong-gu, Nam-gu, Jung-gu), which had formed around the Busan port, had the highest population. However, as people moved to new towns (Haeundae-gu, Geumjeong-gu, Dongrae-gu, Gijang gun) that grew rapidly after 2005, the old town now has the lowest population density.
With approximately 402k residents, Haeundae-gu has the largest population among the 16 districts in Busan, while Jung-gu has the smallest population with 41k.
The Conversion of the US Army Busan Storage Center into a Park Revitalizes the Busan Ecosystem.
Experts argue that a solution must be found by improving the poor residential environment in Busan’s old downtown and creating good jobs to keep local talent from leaving the metropolitan area.
When it comes to transportation and infrastructure, the old downtown has an advantage over the new towns. The residential environment must be dramatically improved by actively introducing redevelopment and urban regeneration projects into the old downtown area.
However, current economic paradigms rely almost entirely on engineered structures to build community resilience, ignoring the role and potential of ecological infrastructure. The services provided by rivers and urban parks are frequently overlooked in economic growth models used to describe and actuate human welfare. Some of these services, such as water purification and air quality regulation, are critical to the survival of all life on Earth.
If the US Army Busan Storage Center is relocated from North Port and turned into a park, the park will serve as the lungs of the old downtown, revitalizing the ecosystem of the Dongcheon stream, which flows through the center of the city to the Busan Storage Center.
The 2.5km stretch from Financial Complex in Nam-gu to Busan North Port looks like a barren wasteland with few green spaces. Dongcheon stream, which covers Busanjin-gu, Nam-gu, and Dong-gu to the Busan North Port, is trapped in a concrete embankment and the US army storage facility.
Aside from the current state of the downstream Dongcheon stream, which has no ecosystem, the current width of the Dongcheon estuary does not appear to affect the improvement of water quality in the open section downstream of the low tide section, which has high and low tide.
By securing the downstream of Dongcheon, the surrounding area, and the tract of the US Army storage facility, the brackish area of the Dongcheon estuary with high and low tides can be expanded. This will have a significant impact on river bed fluctuations, the ecological environment, and water quality.
If the flow rate fluctuates in the open section downstream of Dongcheon, it will be a great help in resolving odor and turbidity issues and improving water quality. Furthermore, if a marine park is built on the site of a former US Army storage facility, like Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, a small boat could transport passengers from the North Port Passenger Terminal to the Seomyeon shopping area along the Dongcheon stream.
Dongcheon’s contribution to environmental improvement, urban design, and watershed community revitalization will lay the foundation for restoring the city’s ecological axis.
Breaking down the barriers
Busan North Port has been transformed into a modern-day gateway to prosperity, with an international passenger ferry terminal and nine container terminals spread across four locations.
If everything goes according to plan, Busan North Port will lead the city’s sustainable future and take first place in the world MICE industry.
