Seoul Metropolitan City plans to transform an old rail yard in Suseo, southern Seoul, into a robot and information technology (IT) industry hub.

Under a mixed-used development plan announced by the Seoul city government on Sunday, the upper part of the Suseo rail yard will be covered with an artificial deck. On the top will house housing, commercial, and cultural facilities as well as green area.

The rail yard, owned by Seoul Metro, is a transportation base with a floor area of 204,280 square meters. It is the first time for a train depot to be transformed into a residential and commercial facility complex.

Under Seoul City’s 2040 basic development plan, Suseo and Munjeong neighborhoods near Suseo rail yard will be nurtured as home to advanced industries that specialize in new growth robots and IT. The move will help create a knowledge industry base in the southeast area of Seoul and offer spaces for IT companies wishing to relocate to the capital city from Pangyo in Gyeonggi Province.

The Seoul City government said the idea for its urban redevelopment plan came from the Seine Rive Gauche project in Paris, France. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon mentioned the Suseo rail yard development project during his Europe tour in October.

By Jung Seok-hwan and Chang Iou-chung

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