Green Belt Lifted for 'Suwon R&D Science Park' to Serve as Western Suwon Innovation Hub

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] The 'Suwon R&D Science Park Development Project,' which will serve as an innovation hub for western Suwon, is expected to enter its full development phase after the green belt designation has been lifted 12 years following the establishment of the initial implementation plan.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 13th conditionally approved the 'Suwon Urban Management Plan Decision (Amendment) on Partial Green Belt Lifting.' The green belt area to be lifted is 342,521.1 sqm (97.1%).

With this, Suwon Special City can now pursue development of the Suwon R&D Science Park site (352,600 sqm in the Ipbuk-dong area, Gwonseon-gu, plot 484) that was previously designated as a green belt.

On December 5, the Ministry held a full committee meeting of the Central Urban Planning Committee at the Sejong Ministry headquarters, where it deliberated on the 'Suwon Urban Management Plan Decision (Amendment) on Partial Green Belt Lifting.'

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon took the podium as the presenter of the deliberation agenda on the day, expounding on the necessity of the 'Suwon R&D Science Park Development Project' for 15 minutes and responded sincerely to questions from the deliberation committee members over 45 minutes. Suwon City received the deliberation results containing 'conditional approval' on the 13th.

The 'green belt designation lift' is scheduled to be announced in Q1 next year, and Suwon City plans to establish 'urban development area designation and development plan' by year-end.

The path to the first step of the Suwon R&D Science Park project, which began in 2011 when Sungkyunkwan University proposed the project to Gyeonggi Province, was arduous.

After Suwon City established an implementation plan in 2013 and announced the business plan in 2014, it submitted an application to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2016 for an urban management plan decision (amendment) to lift the green belt, appearing to progress smoothly. However, the project faced a crisis when it was suspended due to a prosecution investigation (no suspicion) and an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection (matters not pursued) regarding land transaction allegations.

After resubmitting the project application to the Ministry in August 2021, the Ministry responded by saying "the administrative procedure deadline has long passed, so please comply again." Following the launch of the 8th elected term in July 2023, all administrative procedures were reexecuted, including strategic environmental impact assessment and re-investigation of project feasibility, and coordination with relevant government agencies was completed in September 2023.

The Ministry issued a conditional opinion stating 'administrative procedures can be executed when land owners' requests are resolved,' and Suwon City continued to coordinate with the Ministry, Sungkyunkwan University, and Gyeonggi Province to advance the project.

After consistent coordination with Sungkyunkwan University, which owns 87% of the site, Suwon City signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding for Successful Implementation of the Suwon R&D Science Park Development Project' on December 29, 2023.

Sungkyunkwan University, based on its excellent research capabilities and industry-academic cooperation strengths, plans to establish a research and development cluster and activate the science park by connecting excellent talent pools. Suwon City plans to actively support the realization of the university's research and development cluster establishment.

Mayor Lee Jae-joon said, "The 'Suwon R&D Science Park,' one of Suwon City's high-tech science innovation cluster development projects, will lead innovation in western Suwon and serve as an opportunity to establish a new growth hub not only for Suwon but for the southern Gyeonggi region," adding "We will advance the Suwon R&D Science Park development project without setbacks to achieve Suwon's economic transformation."