This study aims to empirically analyze the effects of changes in coastal height-control districts—namely their designation, relaxation, and abolition—on private development along the east coast of Gangwon Province. In the coastal cities of the Eas...
This study aims to empirically analyze the effects of changes in coastal height-control districts—namely their designation, relaxation, and abolition—on private development along the east coast of Gangwon Province. In the coastal cities of the East Sea, height-control districts were collectively designated during specific periods to preserve coastal views and landscapes; however, verification of the long-term effects of this designation has not been sufficiently conducted since the system's introduction. In some areas, the relaxation or abolition of height-control districts has been pursued in response to resident complaints, often without objective standards or supporting evidence. Drawing attention to these problems, this study seeks to identify—from a life-cycle perspective of height-control districts—what spatial responses such changes have induced in actual private development with respect to land use, lot conditions, building organization, and sensitive buildings.
The study targets coastal height-control districts in Sokcho, Goseong, Yangyang, and Gangneung where three-stage changes—before designation, after designation, and after relaxation or abolition—can be confirmed. The direct analytical elements are based on the urban morphological components proposed in Conzen's urban morphology, but are reconstructed to fit the purpose of this study as the reorganization of land use, changes in lot conditions, changes in building form and scale, and the response of sensitive buildings. To this end, public data including building registers, cadastral maps, land registers, continuous thematic maps, individual officially assessed land prices, and the change history of height-control districts were collected and processed to compare and analyze stage-by-stage land-use changes; lot scale, shape, and locational characteristics; and changes in building height, number of floors, gross floor area, building coverage ratio, floor area ratio, and height achievement rate. In addition, through a sensitivity analysis by use type, the building types most sensitive to changes in height restrictions were derived, and the influencing factors of these buildings were examined in depth.
The analysis showed that the effects of changes in coastal height-control districts cannot be explained simply by increases or decreases in permitted height; rather, they appeared differentially in combination with existing urban fabric, the distribution of tourism functions, lot scale and shape, locational conditions, and institutional limitations arising from relevant laws. First, changes in lots and land use were concentrated in specific locations and specific uses rather than constituting a comprehensive reorganization of the entire district. At the designation stage, the average building height in all four regions generally remained at the level of 6–11 m, confirming an overall effect of suppressing high-rise development; however, this effect was differentiated by building use. In particular, while detached houses maintained a low-rise, low-density structure, accommodation facilities and neighborhood living facilities showed relatively high development intensity. This indicates that development within height-control districts is characterized not by comprehensive densification but by selective height intensification according to building use.
Regarding changes in building organization, in sections with height limits of 20 m or above, or in relaxed sections, average heights and the number of floors tended to increase, centered on accommodation facilities and neighborhood living facilities. However, height relaxation did not always lead to development up to the maximum limit, and actual height utilization appeared nonlinear. In the case of accommodation facilities, relatively high height achievement rates were confirmed in the 18 m, 20 m, and 24 m sections, but greater relaxation did not necessarily translate into higher development efficiency. This demonstrates that height restriction is not merely an upper-limit regulation, but rather that development responds directly to the maximum height when, in particular sections, it is combined with buildings of particular uses.
The height increase of accommodation facilities—identified as sensitive buildings—and its conditions were difficult to explain by land price alone; rather, the functional centrality of location, such as coastal siting, connectivity with tourism hubs, view quality, and accessibility, was found to exert a greater influence. Lot area and lot shape also showed a certain degree of influence, but their effects varied by region. Even under the same height restriction, the actual development response appeared differentially in combination with regional conditions.
In sum, coastal height-control districts functioned not as a system that uniformly controls or transforms the buildings within a district, but as an institutional mechanism that selectively adjusts development intensity for buildings of particular uses in particular locations. Therefore, future adjustment of height-control districts should be based not on a uniform raising or lowering of height limits, but on differentiated criteria that comprehensively consider each district's locational characteristics, the centrality of tourism functions, lot conditions, and development responses by use type. By empirically clarifying the effects of changes in coastal height-control districts on private development, this study holds significance in providing foundational policy data for the future management and reorganization of height-control districts in coastal areas.