Rule out indiscriminate waterfront development

SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- Development of areas near the four major rivers under refurbishment through a massive government project is expected to start in full scale from next month with the Cabinet's approval of an enforcement ordinance to the controversial law designating areas near the four rivers into special waterfront zones.
The ordinance, which will take effect from April 30, allows local administrations and public firms to develop the areas near the Han, Geum, Yeongsan and Nakdong rivers, each covering more than 100,000 square meters in area, as waterfront zones. A waterfront should include more than half of the land within 2 kilometers on each side of a river and can be home to condominiums, houses and facilities for water sports and other tourist purposes.
The government said the waterfront law and implementing ordinance will help the riverside areas develop in a more orderly, planned way. However, it is worried that the development will be carried out indiscriminately and recklessly in some areas, bringing forth side effects of environmental pollution and water contamination as well as real estate speculation.
The ordinance set the minimum area of a waterfront at 100,000 square meters to prevent disorderly development of small areas, but it also allows for construction on a "small area" of 30,000 square meters as exceptions for "underdeveloped" regions.
Critics say the exceptions will be loopholes for mismanaged development.
The fact that a waterfront project has to get approval on its environmental impact analysis not by the environment ministry, but by the land ministry, also poses a potential threat for ecological devastation.
Land speculation near the waterfronts will also emerge as a major problem. Candidates for the parliamentary and presidential elections slated for next year are likely to pour forth campaign pledges for the development of waterfront zones as a means of attracting local voters' support. Local administrations are also expected to push ahead with waterfront zones under the cause of vitalizing local economies. All these factors boost real estate speculation around those areas.
In order to achieve the original purposes of the four rivers project, the government must rule out indiscriminate development of waterfront areas. If reckless construction brings forth environmental damage and water contamination, the government's aim of restoring the four major rivers to prevent floods and enhance water quality will receive critical blows.