The first stage of the Busan Port North Port Redevelopment Project site creation and infrastructure construction has nearly been completed, which returns the North Port, which was cut off from citizens after the opening of the port, after 146 years.
The first-phase redevelopment project for the new resting place is the creation of the largest waterside park in Korea with a scenic waterway built between the international passenger terminal, coastal/cruise passenger pier, the original city center and artificial islands.
It’s expected to be completely finished and opened with a ceremony by March of this year.
About 2.4 trillion won was invested in the landmark site, maritime cultural district, IT/video/exhibition district, commercial business district complex port district on a total area of 1.53 million square meters.
As for waterfront parks and some public facilities, including Cultural Park No. 1, which opened in December last year, Cultural Park No. 2 and 3 in May this year, the landscape waterways surrounding the North Port redevelopment site, walking deck, and landmark sites were opened to the public early.
There are a total of nine bridges, three for roads and six for walking, connecting the reclamation section and the original city center along the scenic waterway.
Among them, the coastal observatory, a 150-meter-long bridge connecting the cultural park and the sea, is expected to become a new touristic resource as it provides a 360-degree view of the coastal landscape of the North Port and the redevelopment site on the other side from the round plaza installed on the sea.
The 7-story North Port Marina is also undergoing final construction with the goal of operating in the first half of next year.
As the only complex marina facility introduced for the first time in Korea, it is operated together with yacht mooring facilities (scale of 96 ships), swimming pool and scuba diving facilities, accommodations, restaurants, and cafes.
As the center of marine leisure in the southeast region, it is expected to expand the base of marine leisure culture by increasing citizen access to marine leisure activities and play a major role in creating an industrial ecosystem centered on the North Port.
In addition, a 3.1km road with up to 8 round-trip lanes was installed to alleviate traffic congestion due to the increase in traffic on Chungjang-daero, located southeast of Busan Station, and to enable vehicle access to parks, the opera house, and marina facilities in the first-phase redevelopment project area.
The Busan Port Authority plans to complete the site creation and infrastructure construction and proceed with the transfer of the facility to Busan City. It is expected that traffic will be possible in the first half of next year when various administrative procedures are completed.
When the second-phase redevelopment zone is completed in 2030 as a new driving force for Busan, the port function centered on logistics will be reorganized into a center of commerce and culture with citizens.
The North Port Redevelopment Project, which will become a global new maritime base, is a landmark site-centered North Port downtown facility, and is expected to play a role as a future new growth engine by equipping it with international business and waterside-centered tourism.
It is also expected to bring new vitality to Busan by providing quality jobs and creating great changes in Busan.
The Chungjang-ro underground road construction project (1.94 km, project cost of KRW 255.5 billion), which was promoted in October 2019 to relieve citizen inconvenience due to traffic congestion, is currently at a 58% completion rate and is scheduled to be completed by June 2024.
The Busan Port Authority is also in the process of selecting an operator to attract a landmark building with an international image in Busan.
Starting with the operator selection contest in August of last year, the operator will be selected in the first half of this year, and the design will begin in 2025. In November of last year, about 10 companies expressed their intention to participate in the landmark pre-participation application.
