Let's Use the Empty Former Provincial Government Building as City Hall

After Gyeonggi Provincial Government relocates to the Administrative Town within Gwanggyo New City in 2012, attention is being drawn to opinions suggesting that the current provincial government building site and facilities should be utilized as Suwon City Hall.

In particular, with the completion of Gwanggyo and Homaerssil residential development projects scheduled for 2015, the site of the current provincial government building will become the center of Suwon, and given that administrative demands are expected to surge dramatically and the current city hall will be severely insufficient in terms of organization and facilities, there are arguments that utilizing the former provincial government building should be actively considered.

According to Gyeonggi Province and Suwon, Gyeonggi Provincial Government will relocate to an Administrative Town spanning 115,700 square meters within Gwanggyo New City (11,280,000 square meters total) to be completed in 2012. The Administrative Town, with a scale of approximately 2 basement levels to 20 stories above ground, will house the provincial government headquarters (total area 85,950 square meters), the provincial assembly (29,752 square meters), and related agencies and offices.

The province is reportedly struggling to formulate utilization plans for the current provincial government site of 78,101 square meters (with a publicly announced land price of 54.7 billion won as of the end of last year). With no concrete utilization plan yet announced, suggestions have emerged that Suwon City Hall is pursuing relocation to the former provincial building, drawing considerable interest.

An anonymous public official A stated, "The current Suwon City Hall is cramped with virtually no empty space, and Paldal-gu Office has no office building of its own and is renting space at Suwon World Cup Stadium," and claimed, "Therefore, the city is pursuing plans to utilize the former provincial government building."

B, known as a local figure, also said, "Rather than spending hundreds of billions won to newly construct Paldal-gu Office, it would be desirable to cooperate with the province and utilize the former provincial government site, which is state-owned land," adding, "I understand that Mayor Kim Yong-seo also has no objections to this."

The current Suwon City Hall, spanning 21,677 square meters, underwent expansion with approximately 44.7 billion won invested in 2006 to construct an annex building with 3 basement levels and 8 stories above ground to accommodate increased administrative demands, but still faces office space shortages.

Following the April 9 general election, organizational restructuring resulted in the creation of three new departments and teams, to the extent that break rooms in the annex were converted into much-needed office space.

As the government transitions to a larger ministry and department system, more personnel will inevitably concentrate at the main headquarters, and arguments for relocation to the current provincial government site as an alternative space are gaining traction.

However, both the province and the city refuted these claims, stating, "We've never heard of such rumors about relocating city hall," dismissing them as baseless.

A city official stated, "There was such talk when the provincial government relocation was announced, but it's completely groundless rumors," and added, "While we might have made policy suggestions on a broader level, the city has never considered relocating city hall."

A provincial official also said, "We have not yet formulated a utilization plan for the relocated provincial government site, so we cannot announce any specific plans," and noted, "Moreover, there has been no consultation from Suwon regarding this matter, so it's likely just a rumor."

However, urban planning experts predict that based solely on Suwon's proposed 2020 Basic Urban Plan, city hall relocation or new construction will be inevitable. They argue that with an estimated planned population of 1.29 million and given the emphasis on balanced development between east and west regions, administrative balance cannot be avoided.

Expert C stated, "Currently, Suwon has many administrative facilities concentrated on the east side of National Route 1, including Gwanggyo Administrative Town (under construction), Yeongtong-gu Office, Paldal-gu Office, Suwon City Hall, and Jangan-gu Office," and predicted, "As Suwon Industrial Complex development and Homaerssil residential development proceed in the west Suwon region, the population will grow explosively and administrative demands will increase accordingly."

In particular, experts point out the need to proactively establish utilization plans for 12 public institutions relocated under government relocation programs (totaling 3.23 million square meters) concentrated in west Suwon and the former provincial government site.