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This study examines the potential of religious facilities to enhance urban tourism by evaluating urban traditional temples as cultural tourism resources and identifying key tourism indicators. An evaluation framework was developed, encompassing five attributes—historicity, accessibility, inter-connectivity, convenience, and publicity—each with three sub-factors. The research question focuses on what factors distinguish successful urban traditional temples like Bongeunsa and Jogyesa from others. Seven traditional temples in Seoul were selected for comparison. Bongeunsa and Jogyesa, functioning as major tourist attractions, were compared with five other temples with potential but fewer visitors. The findings indicate that Bongeunsa and Jogyesa scored higher for all of the attraction attributes and the majority of the sub-factors. Differences in the correlation between each factor and visitor numbers were also observed. The research methodology included literature reviews, deriving cultural tourism attributes, and evaluating selected temples. This approach highlights underdeveloped factors in other urban temples and suggests strategies for enhancement, providing valuable insights for urban tourism policy and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising temperatures and heightened air pollution are widespread across many parts of the world today. Despite some initial attempts for analysis, the intricate interconnection between the two still requires further investigation. This study focuses on Seoul, South Korea, by adopting vector-autoregressive-based Granger causality tests to unravel the nuances of these relationships at the district level. While bidirectional Granger causality links between temperature and urban heat island intensity, as well as between PM10 concentration and urban pollution island intensity, are found in many cases, our findings reveal diverse causal relationships that are evident in the districts. These findings underscore the necessity for evidence-based strategies to guide planners and policymakers in addressing the challenges of rising temperatures and air pollution in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of the heavy rainfall events that occurred in Seoul in 2022 and compared them with the projections of the representative concentration pathway (RCP). The analysis results indicated that climate change is ongoing. In this era of climate crisis, based on the shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) data, we projected the 20-year frequency rainfall for South Korea at intervals of 1 day/24 h. Our results indicate that the maximum rainfall (with a 24 h duration) will increase by ~18% in the second half of the 21st century, compared to the current maximum rainfall. Finally, we projected the intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curve for the infrastructure design of Seoul. According to the projected IDF curve, across all durations, the rainfall intensity was the strongest in the early 21st century, indicating that at present, we are in the midst of a climate crisis. Thus, it is important to develop and implement effective urban and river flood management measures to mitigate the current effects of climate change. Notably, our study can serve as a reference for future studies on climate change and help policymakers and decision-makers develop relevant policies and mitigation strategies related to the effects of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several previous studies have examined factors influencing crime at a specific point in time, limited research has assessed how factors influencing crime change in response to social disasters such as COVID-19. This study examines factors, along with their relative importance and trends over time, and their influence on 112 commercial crime reports (illegal street vendors, dining and dashing, minor quarrels, theft, drunkenness, assault, vagrancy and disturbing the peace) in Seoul's alley commercial districts between 2019 and 2021. Variables that may affect the number of commercial crime reports are classified into four characteristics (socioeconomic, neighborhood, park/greenery and commercial district attributes), explored using machine learning regression-based modeling and analyzed through the use of Shapley Additive exPlanations to determine the importance of each factor on crime reports. The Partial Dependence Plot is used to understand linear/non-linear relationships between key independent variables and crime reports. Among several machine learning models, the Extra Trees Regressor, which has the highest performance, is selected for the analysis. The results show a mixture of linear and non-linear relationships with the increasing crime rates, finding that store density, dawn sales ratio, the number of gathering facilities, perceived urban decline score, green view index and land appraisal value may play a crucial role in the number of commercial crimes reported, regardless of social trends. The findings of this study may be used as a basis for building a safe commercial district that can respond resiliently to social disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social housing in Seoul has been provided since 2015 via collaboration between the city and the private sector to address the increasing housing burden for single-person households and the younger generation. Despite the eight years since the implementation of this initiative, there remains a lack of research regarding the satisfaction of residents with respect to indoor social housing environments. The aim of this study is two-fold: (1) to explore household characteristics, such as floor area and living room, bathroom, and kitchen issues; and (2) to examine the factors that affect indoor residential environment satisfaction. In May and June of 2022, 57 households from 22 social housing projects participated in the survey, and data were analyzed using frequency and descriptive methods. The results indicated that the interior layout of the house affected and influenced residential satisfaction. This was followed by accessibility to major facilities, interactions with the community, accessibility to transportation, and facility maintenance. The implications of these findings were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seoul is the first city in South Korea to provide affordable social housing, beginning in 2015. Despite the importance of studying its space, configuration, and functionality, which impact the residents' quality of life, research on social housing in Seoul is sparse. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to analyze the spatial layout and utilization of social housing and (2) to compare it to the layout and utilization of public rental housing provided by Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH). A total of 120 units from 30 social housing projects open to the public in Seoul were selected. This study found that social housing in Seoul primarily consists of compact housing units targeting young adults and newlywed couples, with a high proportion of diverse spatial configurations. In South Korea, while the SH specialized floor plan is commonly used as a standardized prototype in contemporary apartments, the floor plans for social housing exhibit a broader range of shapes and spatial configurations. Distinct criteria are employed for space separation in designing social housing. Separating bedrooms or kitchens may be the priority depending on the specific housing unit, resulting in multiple layouts. The results suggest that ongoing research could contribute to exploring improved approaches for region-specific social housing design and enhancing residential environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relationship between urban accessibility of museums in the urban spaces of Tokyo and Seoul within limited travel distances. Similarities and differences were identified in the museum accessibility between the two cities. The urban accessibility of museums was set as the dependent variable, calculated via space syntax. For the spatial accessibility of museums, five walking ranges (1000–2000 m) were set as independent variables, with a distance of 250 m as the basic unit. Data normality and independence of the derived data were checked, and polynomial curve fitting was performed to interpret the accessibility of museums in each city. A comparative analysis was conducted on museum accessibility. The results show areas with a high concentration of museums in Tokyo and Seoul partially deviated from the center of the urban hierarchy. The urban and spatial accessibilities of museums in both cities quantitatively correlated with limited travel distances. Museum visitors in Tokyo were more likely to have relatively free-flowing routes in the city. The museums in Seoul had a lower overall accessibility than those in Tokyo, and travel patterns and routes to these museums were likely to be restricted when located in urban areas and consequently resembled a forced movement pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seoul has a high density of air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) grouped into roadside, urban, and background types. Using the extensive data from 42 AQMSs in the period 2018 to 2021, the statistical characteristics of air pollutants required to calculate the daily air quality index DAQx* (daily maximum 1 h O3 and NO2 means and daily 24 h PM10 and PM2.5 means) are determined, depending on station types and three temporal periods (individual years, winters, and summers). The results for (i) annual cycles, which include peak concentrations of PM10 (up to 517 µg/m3 in May 2021) and PM2.5 (up to 153 µg/m3 in March 2019) owing to transboundary transport, (ii) annual medians, (iii) annual scattering ranges, (iv) partitioning of frequencies into DAQx*-related concentration ranges, and (v) maximum daily variations within individual station types indicate clear statistical air pollutant characteristics depending on the station types. They were primarily caused by different emission and atmospheric exchange conditions in a circular buffer around each AQMS, which are often approximated by urban form variables. The maximum daily variations were highest in the middle NO2 concentration range of the "satisfying" class for the roadside type (between 53% in summer 2019 and 90% in winter 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, the utilization rate of public libraries in Seoul could be estimated based on their accessibility. However, several issues emerge if we apply this correlation to the present day. Therefore, we re-examined the causal relationship between accessibility and the utilization rate of public libraries to provide directions for improving the use of public libraries in densely populated cities with growing cultural demand. After investigating the utilization rate of public libraries in Seoul from 2015 to 2019, the degree of utilization activation (DUA) was set as the dependent variable, and the integration of public libraries (derived by the quantification of urban space with space syntax) was set as the independent variable. A hypothesis was established to examine the causal relationship using statistical techniques. According to the results, the derived index values had independence and normality, but the accessibility index of public libraries did not exhibit a causal relationship with DUA. It was verified that the causal relationship recognized in the past (where accessibility was the sole predictor of utilization rate) cannot be applied to public libraries in the present day. Modern factors affecting DUA may involve either user motivation or the recent developments in public libraries compared to the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's urban planning system began with the Urban Renewal (1885) and has been modified since then in various ways through the Tokyo City Improvement Ordinance (1888) and the City Planning Law (1919). From 1895 to 1945 (Japanese colonization era), Japan applied and tested its urban planning in Taipei (1895–1945), Seoul (1910–1945, Gyeongseong), and Beijing (1936–1945). Although Tokyo was the first city discussed for planning, urban renewal was implemented in other colonized cities in a similar period. What Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, and Taipei have in common is that they are built around fortress walls. Hence, the present study aims to examine the characteristics of Tokyo's urban planning and reveal how Japan's urban planning transformed these cities in East Asia, which had different cultures and styles, during Japanese colonial rule. We analyzed urban renewal projects implemented in each city, the organization of a committee to plan the City Planning Ordinance, the effect of urban planning, the characteristics of urban planning, and changes in existing downtowns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preference for walking and the resulting pedestrian activities have been considered key success factors for streets, neighborhoods, and cities alike. Although micro- and meso-scale built environment factors that encourage walking have been investigated, the role of macroscopic factors such as regional centrality in explaining street-level pedestrian volume is often neglected. Against this backdrop, this study examines the relationship between built environments and street-level pedestrian volume using Smart Card and pedestrian volume survey data from Seoul after controlling for transport ridership as a proxy for regional centrality. As a preliminary study, we analyzed 36 regression models applying different sets of transit ridership variables and found that the combination of bus ridership within 400 m and subway ridership within 300 m best explained the variation in pedestrian volume on a street. Then, the effects of the 3D variables (density, diversity, and design) on pedestrian volume were compared before and after controlling for ridership within this spatial range. The results demonstrated that, after taking transit ridership into account, the influence of built environment variables is generally reduced, and the decrease is more pronounced among walkshed-level 3D variables than street-level variables. Particularly, while the effect of "design" (street connectivity) on pedestrian volume appeared to be negatively significant in the constrained model, it was found to be insignificant in the unconstrained model which controlled for transit ridership. This suggests that the degree of street connectivity is influenced by regional centrality, and accordingly, the coefficient of the "design" variable in our constrained model might be biased. Thus, to accurately understand the effect of the meso-scale 3D variables on pedestrian volume, both micro- and macro-scale built environmental factors should be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While urban accessibility of museums plays a crucial role in the growth of a cultural city, in reality, an uneven distribution of museums exists in cities. In particular, museums are concentrated in certain regions or located in a place that is different from the cognitive experience of local residents. To solve this issue, this study quantified the urban space of Seoul, which has entered into the status of a cultural city since the 1990s, as its target city by using space syntax. Further, a suitability analysis was conducted by extracting the museums' topological accessibility in the city structure as well as the accessibility by the travel angle and limit distance setting. The results showed that the physical locations of museums considering the minimum walking distance set in this study were somewhat separated or isolated from primary spaces where people travel. This indicates that determining museum locations by referring to the major travel routes throughout the city is a significant basis for securing physical accessibility. This study is meaningful as it establishes reference materials for determining museum locations in Seoul and will help form physical clusters of museums adjacent to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relocation of architectural heritage at home and abroad has been permitted only in cases where it is 'only as a last resort, if protection cannot be achieved by any other means', but this standard is not specifically set, causing confusion. Against this background, this study looked at the allowable standards for relocation of all architectural heritage cases relocated within Seoul. The acceptance criteria for relocation could be divided into two categories: for urban development or for restoration. Riegl's monument value system was borrowed in order to determine under what values of the times the permission of such a move was permitted. As a result, from the 1960s to the 1990s, structures of architectural heritage were recognized as objects of conservation, but the original site (land) was not. Additionally, at this time, the 'values of the present' of the architectural heritage (includes both the structure and the site) was given priority over the 'values of the past' of it. It is after the 1990s that the 'values of the past' of the site have been recognized, and as it becomes closer in recent years, the relocation of architectural heritage tends to be carried out only to restore its original site. In this study, by analyzing the case of Seoul, it was revealed in what cases the relocation of architectural heritage was allowed, and the value priorities that acted on the background were analyzed. This study is representative in that Seoul is the capital and largest city of Korea. In addition, this study examines the change in perception, values, and paradigm of each cultural heritage that has been shown by various national institutions (Cultural Heritage Administration, President, Seoul Metropolitan Government) from the 1960s to the present by analyzing the criteria for permission for the act of moving. It allows interpretation and comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Korean War, Seoul has applied a growth-oriented approach to urban development, resulting in insufficient amount of public spaces. Such lack of public spaces has been addressed partially through private development, which has exacerbated the lack of public domain for the socially disadvantaged groups. Accordingly, local governments have increasingly sought to solve this problem by developing underutilized underpasses. This study analyzes the development of Social Care Type (SCT) underpasses in Seoul and how they meet the characteristics of sustainable development. The study findings reveal that the Seoul Metropolitan Government's approach to the development of underpasses forms a virtuous cycle where the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) constituting sustainability—social, economic, and environmental factors—forms a feedback-loop relationship. Based on this systemic review of nine case studies of underpass development in Seoul, this article suggests a new paradigm for underpass space development that could be applied in the future by Seoul and other modern cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the history of the development of the riverfront of the Han River, the river that runs east-to-west in Seoul. In many scholarly works, the development of a commercial leisure district on the one hand, and local uses such as low-cost housing on the other, have formed two opposing waterfront spatial imaginaries. However, it is questionable whether these two visions are applicable to many metropolitan riverfront developments. The historical absence of an industrial port and the focus on the traffic flow in the Han River have contributed to the linear development of the waterfront area. After analyzing archival data and ethnographical interviews, this paper argues that this idiosyncrasy of the Han River waterfront should not be regarded as either underutilization or underdevelopment. Rather, it should be considered as reflecting the unique urban conditions of Seoul, including the legacy of the Cold War, the wide breadth of the river, and the relatively late expansion of the city south of the river. By situating the Han River development in the context of increasing criticism against the copy-and-paste waterfront developments elsewhere, this paper argues the consideration of "place" needs to include a historical dimension as past spatial practices have the tendency to continue to the present even after new developments are established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore the aspects of "gentrification" and "degentrification" other than economic factors. To this end, this study focused on the gentrification situations occurring before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the Itaewon area, South Korea, by using semantic network analysis. We analyzed news articles on the gentrification phenomenon in the Itaewon area reported in South Korea. As a result, gentrification in the Itaewon area is divided into four stages. The first stage of gentrification (2010~2014) is initial stage of gentrification. Gentrification stage 2 (2015~2017) is the period of commercialization as a gentrification growth stage. The first stage of degentrification (2018~2019) is the maturation period of gentrification. The second stage of degentrification (2019~30 June 2020) is the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results confirm the existing theoretical frameworks while building a more nuanced definition through operationalizing gentrification and degentrification. As with the etymology of the term, the degentrification phenomenon can only be revealed when the gentrification phenomenon is prominently displayed. This study has an implication in that it tried to phenomenologically examine the specific phenomenon of the next stage of gentrification through the term "degentrification". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to define the alcohol consumption norms and attitudes toward alcohol regulation policies among citizens of Seoul and the relationships between such norms and the favored regulatory policies. The study population consisted of 1001 adults aged 19-80 years living in Seoul. We collected demographic data and data on health behaviors, attitudes towards drinking, and preferred alcohol regulation policies. The correlations between drinking and the favored regulatory policies were analyzed. Male, as well as being employed, aged 19-39 years, single, a smoker, and a current or heavy episodic drinker were associated with more positive attitudes toward drinking (all p < 0.001) and less desire for alcohol regulation policies (all p < 0.001). We found a significant negative correlation between attitudes toward drinking and preferred alcohol regulation policies ( p < 0.001). Participants who favored reduced or no alcohol consumption and a reduction in alcohol-related harm were more accepting of restrictive alcohol consumption policies. To establish alcohol control polices, differences in drinking norms within populations should be considered. Furthermore, for a successful alcohol control policy, efforts should be made to change drinking norms, as well as consider differences in regulatory policy preferences between population groups.

Seoul (SEOV) and Hantaan (HTNV) orthohantaviruses are significant zoonotic pathogens responsible for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Here, we investigated the molecular evolution of SEOV and HTNV through phylogenetic and bioinformatic analyses using complete genome sequences of their large (L), medium (M), and small (S) gene segments. Despite similar epizootic cycles and clinical symptoms, SEOV and HTNV exhibited distinct genetic and evolutionary dynamics. The phylogenetic trees of each segment consistently showed major genetic clades associated with the geographical distribution of both viruses. Remarkably, SEOV M and S segments exhibit higher evolutionary rates, rapidly increasing genetic diversity, and a more recent origin in contrast to HTNV. Reassortment events were infrequent, but both viruses appear to utilize the M gene segment in genetic exchanges. SEOV favors the L or M segment reassortment, while HTNV prefers the M or S segment exchange. Purifying selection dominates in all three gene segments of both viruses, yet SEOV experiences an elevated positive selection in its glycoprotein Gc ectodomain. Key amino acid differences, including a positive 'lysine fence' (through residues K77, K82, K231, K307, and K310) located at the tip of the Gn, alongside the physical stability around an RGD-like motif through M108-F334 interaction, may contribute to the unique antigenic properties of SEOV. With the increasing global dispersion and potential implications of SEOV for the global public health landscape, this study highlights the unique evolutionary dynamics and antigenic properties of SEOV and HTNV in informing vaccine design and public health preparedness.

Among the various thermal stress indices, apparent temperature (AT) is closely related to public health indicators, and consequently is widely used by weather agencies around the world. Therefore, in this paper we estimate the changes in AT and contributing components in Korea as a whole and in five major cities (Seoul, Gwanju, Daegu, Daejeon, and Busan) using national standard climate scenarios based on the coupled model inter-comparison project (CMIP6). In the present day, high AT occurs in major cities due to high temperature (TAS) and relative humidity (RH). Our findings reveal that even when TAS is relatively low, large AT occurs with higher humidity. Notably, in future warmer climate conditions, high AT may first appear in the five major cities and then extend to the surrounding areas. An increase in TAS and RH during the pre-hot season (March to June) may lead to earlier occurrence of thermal risks in future warmer climate conditions and more frequent occurrence of high thermal stress events. Our study can serve as a reference for future information on thermal risk changes in Korea. Considering those who have not adapted to high temperature environments, our findings imply that thermal risks will become more serious and that heat adaptation strategies will be needed during the pre-hot season under future warmer climate conditions.

With the incorporation of an automated fare-collection system into the management of public transportation, not only can the quality of transportation services be improved but also that of the data collected from users when coupled with smart-card technology. The data collected from smart cards provide opportunities for researchers to analyze big data sets and draw meaningful information out of them. This study aims to identify the relationship between travel patterns derived from smart-card data and urban characteristics. Using seven-day transit smart-card data from the public-transportation system in Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea, we investigated the temporal and spatial boarding and alighting patterns of the users. The major travel patterns, classified into five clusters, were identified by utilizing the K-Spectral Centroid clustering method. We found that the temporal pattern of urban mobility reflects daily activities in the urban area and that the spatial pattern of the five clusters classified by travel patterns was closely related to urban structure and urban function; that is, local environmental characteristics extracted from land-use and census data. This study confirmed that the travel patterns at the citywide level can be used to understand the dynamics of the urban population and the urban spatial structure. We believe that this study will provide valuable information about general patterns, which represent the possibility of finding travel patterns from individuals and urban spatial traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current climate of severe competition among tourist destinations, the importance of brand equity in tourism marketing is increasing. This study looks at the impact of branding in relation to the largest group of inbound overseas tourists to South Korea, the Chinese. Data for the current study were obtained from a survey of tourists visiting Seoul from the Greater China region, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and the Chinese living in Southeast Asia. The survey was conducted in popular sightseeing spots, four and five-star hotels in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and the Incheon International Airport. The respondents were selected randomly, with effort expended to avoid any potential bias in the composition of the sample. Out of a total of 385 distributed questionnaires, 350 (China 191, Hong Kong 71, Taiwan 68, others 20) were selected as valid and finally used in the analysis. The results of this study suggest that price and word of mouth have beneficial effects on perceived quality, publicity, and brand awareness, and advertisement has beneficial effects on brand image. We also found that brand awareness and perceived quality have impacts on brand image, and brand image is related to brand loyalty. This is a pioneering study on the relationships between influencing factors, destination brand equity and its elements, and brand loyalty, with respect to Seoul, South Korea, as a tourism destination for tourists from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weekend travel has not been duly considered in academics and practice regarding its relationship with land use. A lack of consideration is notable in terms of how land use internalizes weekend travel. Thus, by separating the internal and external travel of the traffic analysis zone, this study analyzes the land use effect on weekend travel in comparison with that on weekday travel. Two structural equation models, each of which is specified for weekday and weekend travel, construct the same sample and their results become comparable. At the travel variable level, the models find consistent results: Stronger effects are made on internal travel than on external travel and particularly, on trip frequency than on travel time. This implies that compact land use causes a stronger addition of internal trips and a less strong reduction of external trips, that is, changes in destinations rather than in total travel time. At the factor level, unlike the weekday model in which the sociodemographic factor exerts a stronger effect, the weekend model presents that land use more strongly affects travel patterns. This magnitude difference is explained by the different flexibility of compulsory weekday travel and discretionary weekend travel in relation to the choice of trip destination and frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interests in weekend trips are increasing, but few have studied how they are affected by land use. In this study, we analyze the relationship between compact land use characteristics and trip time in Seoul, Korea by comparing two research models, each of which uses the weekday and weekend data of the same travelers. To secure sufficient numbers of subjects and groups, full random coefficients multilevel models define the trip as level one and the neighborhood as level two, and find that level-two land use characteristics account for less variation in trip time than level-one individual characteristics. At level one, weekday trip time is found to be reduced by the choice of the automobile as a travel mode, but not by its ownership per se. In addition, it becomes reduced if made by high income travelers and extended to travel to quality jobs. Among four land use characteristics at level two, population density, road connectivity, and subway availability are shown to be significant in the weekday model. Only subway availability has a positive relationship with trip time and this finding is consistent with the level-one result that the choice of automobile alternatives increases trip time. The other land use characteristic, land use balance, turns out to be a single significant land use variable in the weekend model, implying that it is concerned mainly with non-work, non-mandatory travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in understanding how the built environment affects temperature in cities. This study explores the impact of land use on temperature and how it varies by season and time of day in Seoul, South Korea. Unlike other studies that rely on extracted data from remotely sensed information, this study uses land use data from local GIS and near-ground temperature data from a network of state-run weather stations. To deal with multicollinearity among the land use variables, partial least squares regression models were used for analysis. Results suggest that residential and commercial uses and roads increase the temperature while open spaces decrease it. In detail, central commercial use, high-density residential use, and roads were influential heaters, while greenery was an influential cooler throughout the year. This study suggests the need for place-based planning and design solutions that help build climate resilience of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

environmental protection issues and the monitoring of pollution, especially for the largest cities in Asia, are becoming increasingly prominent factors for inclusive urban planning of public open spaces. Recently, a walkability concept was implemented in many cities, and in 2016 it became a campaign direction for development in Seoul. This paper considers conditions of implementation for the walkability concept, using examples of pedestrian walkway-making initiatives, and regeneration of existing walkways along water streams in urban case studies in Seoul, South Korea. The role of nature-based solutions was considered in relation to aesthetics, and social and environmental characteristics (e.g., air pollution, oxygenation through greenery) obtained through literature reviews for the case studies. Considering the complexity of the situation, with factors such as Air Quality Index (AQI) warning conditions, and the general positive impact of walkability on enhancing a healthy life style and social interaction and on reducing congestion, this study contributes to the discussion on walkability, and the importance of nature-based urban regeneration projects for densely populated areas in cities. The results of particular cases in this paper suggest the need for careful monitoring and consideration of various factors for urban regeneration walkable design projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-genome sequencing provides a robust platform for investigating the epidemiology and transmission of emerging viruses. Oxford Nanopore Technologies allows for real-time viral sequencing on a local laptop system for point-of-care testing. Seoul orthohantavirus (Seoul virus, SEOV), harbored by Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus , causes mild hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and poses an important threat to public health worldwide. We evaluated the deployable MinION system to obtain high-fidelity entire-length sequences of SEOV for the genome identification of accurate infectious sources and their genetic diversity. One-step amplicon-based nanopore sequencing was performed from SEOV 80-39 specimens with different viral copy numbers and SEOV-positive wild rats. The KU-ONT-SEOV-consensus module was developed to analyze SEOV genomic sequences generated from the nanopore system. Using amplicon-based nanopore sequencing and the KU-ONT-consensus pipeline, we demonstrated novel molecular diagnostics for acquiring full-length SEOV genome sequences, with sufficient read depth in less than 6 h. The consensus sequence accuracy of the SEOV small, medium, and large genomes showed 99.75-100% (for SEOV 80-39 isolate) and 99.62-99.89% (for SEOV-positive rats) identities. This study provides useful insights into on-site diagnostics based on nanopore technology and the genome epidemiology of orthohantaviruses for a quicker response to hantaviral outbreaks.

In this paper, a new wind resource assessment procedure for building-integrated wind turbines (BIWTs) is proposed. The objective is to integrate wind turbines at a 555 m high-rise building to be constructed at the center of Seoul, Korea. Wind resource assessment at a high altitude was performed using ground-based remote sensing (RS); numerical weather prediction (NWP) modeling that includes an urban canopy model was evaluated using the remote sensing measurements. Given the high correlation between the model and the measurements, we use the model to produce a long-term wind climate by correlating the model results with the measurements for the short period of the campaign. The wind flow over the high-rise building was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The wind resource in Seoul-one of the metropolitan cities located inland and populated by a large number of skyscrapers-was very poor, which results in a wind turbine capacity factor of only 7%. A new standard procedure combining RS, NWP, and CFD is proposed for feasibility studies on high-rise BIWTs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanmegaprojects change the city in variousways over a long period of time. These changes may be very clear and calculable, but it is the changes that followwhich are unpredictable and extensive. Especially in fast-changing cities like Seoul, Korea, projects like the Cheonggyecheon Restoration have massive effects on the surrounding environment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the spatial changes in the downtown area after the Cheonggycheon Restoration Project (2005). The economic; social, and physical effect and the outcome of the restoration project have been studied before the restoration, but the actual changes that occurred afterwards were understudied. Since subsequent spatial changes in the surrounding area occur over a long period, continuous observation on the physical effects should be made. Thus, unlike most studies that focus on the immediate before and after effect of the Cheonggycheon Restoration Project, this study focuses on the ten years of physical changes that followed the restoration. The study covers roughly fourteen large blocks, which were divided into seven categories based on current land use and the historical background of the city form. Physical changes of newly-built buildings, the number of renovations or building extensions, and socio-spatial changes, such as the rise and fall of urban industries, changes in building use, and overall changes in the characteristic of the blocks, were analyzed in accordance with their historical development of the city form. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Cheonggyecheon Restoration project, this study provides a better understanding of the overall effect of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the planning paradigm shift related to the contested "urban renaissance" mega-project in Downtown Seoul (Korea). Similar to other global cities, over the last few decades, different mega-projects have been successfully implemented in Seoul. These projects have been considered engines for urban renewals and transformation. This paper builds on the analysis of the failure and re-framing planning strategy for the Green Corridor (GC) mega-project, part of the "Urban Renaissance Master Plan for Downtown Seoul". The GC case reveals various critical insights for urban sustainability: (i) the current mega-projects' sustainability fallacy, related to top-down, technocratic densification, and greening practices; and (ii) the untapped potential of Asian traditional and irregular small scale urban patterns, and their related socio-cultural value in addressing the renaissance of the long term urban sustainability. In particular, the discussed research findings point out that urban renaissance enabling sustainability principles requires integrated, small scale, incremental, and adaptive (stepwise) urban planning and design processes that go well beyond general strategies following the so-called "green growth" paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, HD maps have become important parts of autonomous driving, from localization to perception and path planning. For the practical application of HD maps, it is significant to regularly update environmental changes in HD maps. Conventional approaches require expensive mobile mapping systems and considerable manual work by experts, making it difficult to achieve frequent map updates. In this paper, we show how frequent and automatic updates of lane marking in HD maps are made possible with enormous crowdsourced data. Crowdsourced data is acquired from onboard low-cost sensing devices installed on many city buses and taxis in Seoul, South Korea. A large amount of crowdsourced data is daily accumulated on the server. The quality of sensor measurement is not very high due to the limited performance of low-cost devices. Therefore, the technical challenge is to overcome the uncertainty of the crowdsourced data. Appropriately filtering out a large amount of low-quality data is a significant problem. The proposed HD map update strategy comprises several processing steps including pose correction, observation assignment, observation clustering, and landmark classification. The proposed HD map update strategy is experimentally verified using crowdsourced data. If the changed environments are successfully extracted, then precisely updated HD maps are generated.

Background: We evaluated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infections with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, having the highest population density in the country, under real-world conditions., Methods: We evaluated the reduction in the effectiveness of mRNA and viral-vector COVID-19 vaccines against infection by the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in a subpopulation from April 2021 to July 2021 who visited screening clinics in Seoul using a test-negative case-control study design. Moreover, we conducted a case-control study matching the ten-year-old age group, sex, healthcare workers, and five districts of Seoul, which are considered confounding factors., Results: The full VE in the pre-delta-dominant period was 95.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 91.2-97.2); however, it decreased to 61.1% (95% CI: 53.2-67.6) during the delta-dominant period. Notably, we found that COVID-19 VE was significantly decreased in individuals aged ≥80 years (52.9%, 95% CI: -9.9-79.8), men (50.6 %, 95% CI: 39.4-59.8), and asymptomatic individuals (49.8%, 95% CI: 36.5-60.3) during the widespread SARS-CoV-2 delta variant circulation., Conclusions: Vaccine-mediated protection drastically declined during the delta-dominant period and in vulnerable groups. This study suggests the requirement for additional countermeasures, such as the administration of a booster vaccine, in vulnerable groups based on age, sex, and symptomatic manifestation.

In the Republic of Korea, the Environmental Health Act was amended in January 2021, making it mandatory for each local government to establish a plan for environmental health. Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) must establish the Local Plan for Environmental Health (LPEH) to protect citizens' health from environmental hazards. The plan would support existing environmental health policies in Seoul to improve population health and achieve their goals. As a proof-of-concept to establish the LPEH, we developed a preliminary plan for environmental health in Seoul. We analyzed environmental health conditions of Seoul, identified driving conditions for execution of environmental health policies, set basic policy directions, and identified tasks needed to establish the preliminary plan. As a result, we established the vision and the goals of the preliminary plan. The vision is "a safe Seoul environment, healthy citizens". The strategies are "active monitoring of environmental health issues", "minimization of health damage and meticulous and systematic response", and "building a foundation for environmental health". To achieve the vision and the goals, we developed three strategies, eight tasks, and 25 sub-tasks. Under the preliminary plan we developed, we expect that SMG is able to protect citizens' health from threats of environmental hazards; improve environmental health conditions, especially in susceptible populations such as infants; and promote environmental justice.

The growing interest and usage of green space during the pandemic relates to why greenery increases enjoyment of daily life and alleviates troubles arising from infectious periods. However, it is necessary to understand what reactions to the degree of COVID-19's spread were expressed in hiking exercise characteristics (hiking frequency, actual movement distance, average speed, total exercise time). To understand the progress of forest usage behavior during the pandemic, we analyzed factors influencing hiking exercise characteristics and relationships between those factors and hiking exercise characteristics. Hiking record data were obtained (2019-2020) from the workout app "Tranggle" pertaining to hikers in their 20s and 30s who visited the 13 mountains in the Seoul Metropolitan Area most frequently. The differences in hiking exercise characteristics (2019 data subtracted from 2020) were linked with factor data that could be related to them, including the degree of COVID-19's spread (Rt). To explore relationships between hiking exercise characteristics and factors, we developed four models with a linear mixed model. We found that Rt, week, weekdays/weekends, and PM10 contributed to explaining the hiking exercise characteristics' differences. As a result of this analysis, the degree of COVID-19's spread (Rt) affected hiking frequency; the week affected hiking frequency and actual movement distance; weekdays or weekends affected hiking frequency, actual movement distance, average speed, and total exercise time; and PM10 affected hiking frequency. These findings indicate that hiking was an alternative way for those looking for a new strategy to replace lost opportunities for physical activity. Therefore, we conclude that it is necessary to induce the usage of green space so that many people can take advantage of the functions and benefits of greenery, which stood out during the pandemic era.

Understanding the relationship between land use/land cover (LULC) and land surface temperature (LST) has long been an area of interest in urban and environmental study fields. To examine this, existing studies have utilized both white-box and black-box approaches, including regression, decision tree, and artificial intelligence models. To overcome the limitations of previous models, this study adopted the explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) approach in examining the relationships between LULC and LST. By integrating the XGBoost and SHAP model, we developed the LST prediction model in Seoul and estimated the LST reduction effects after specific LULC changes. Results showed that the prediction accuracy of LST was maximized when landscape, topographic, and LULC features within a 150 m buffer radius were adopted as independent variables. Specifically, the existence of surrounding built-up and vegetation areas were found to be the most influencing factors in explaining LST. In this study, after the LULC changes from expressway to green areas, approximately 1.5 °C of decreasing LST was predicted. The findings of our study can be utilized for assessing and monitoring the thermal environmental impact of urban planning and projects. Also, this study can contribute to determining the priorities of different policy measures for improving the thermal environment.

To reduce the health burden from particulate matter (PM), the Korean government implemented a nationwide PM 10 (particles less than 10 µg/m 3 in diameter) alert system in 2015. The policy was intended to reduce PM exposure by advising people to refrain from outdoor activities on highly polluted days. The present study aimed to estimate the effect of the PM 10 alert system on people's daily outdoor activity patterns using urban park (specifically, Children's Grand Park) visitation data from Seoul, South Korea, from 2014-2019. Segmented regression was fitted to estimate whether the number of visitors to the park decreased on the days with PM 10 alerts. PM 10 concentration of 80 µg/m 3 , the cut-off point for a "Bad" alert, was set as a threshold, and discontinuity at the threshold and change in the relative risk after the threshold was tested. Time series regression was used to estimate the dose-response line between the ambient PM 10 concentration and the daily number of park visitors. The number of park visitors decreased by 11.8% (relative risk: 0.881, 95% confidence interval: 0.808, 0.960) when a "Bad" alert was issued (PM 10 level above 80 µg/m 3 ) compared to when the alert level was "Normal" (PM 10 level less than 80 µg/m 3 ). The present study found evidence that the PM 10 alert influenced people's daily outdoor activities in Seoul, Korea. As the main purpose of the PM alert is to encourage people to refrain from outdoor activities, evaluating the relationship between PM alerts and behavior patterns can help to grasp the effectiveness of the policy. Further efforts should be made to investigate whether the observed behavioral change leads to reductions in health outcomes caused by PM.

Due to global climate change, various countries have agreed upon the use of conventions. In this study, the eco-friendly vehicular policy on carbon neutrality implemented in Seoul, Korea, was examined. To this end, various policy-based scenarios were set, and the changes in automotive exhaust gas emissions were evaluated and compared. The evaluation method combined macroscopic and microscopic emission models as its analysis framework. Micro-traffic data available in Korea were used for analyses, and the results for all autonomous districts were derived to cover the entire area of Seoul. The findings confirmed that the most effective measure is the initial replacement of old, mid-size, or large diesel passenger cars with eco-friendly vehicles (Middle-sized: Scenario 2-1 5.52%, Scenario 2-2 6.86%, Scenario 3-1 80.93%, and Scenario 3-2 83.98%). The replacement of old vehicles exhibited the highest effect in all tested scenarios, while the initial replacement of diesel vehicles was more effective than the replacement of gasoline and liquified petroleum gas vehicles (Diesel: Scenario2-1 6.64%, Scenario 2-2 8.21%, Scenario3-1 86.23%, and Scenario 3-2 90.51%). Among the autonomous districts of Seoul, the Gangnam-gu area exhibited the largest emission-reduced effect among all the tested scenarios (Gangnam-gu: Scenario 2-1 5.80%, Scenario 2-2 6.74%, Scenario 3-1 80.44%, and Scenario 3-2 82.62%). Overall, it was demonstrated that the findings of this study may have significant policy implications in terms of urban emission changes pertaining to transportation.