Seoul City to build Ferris wheel, green spaces to attract more tourists

The Seoul city government has proposed building a mega Ferris wheel and more green spaces as part of an upgraded urban planning project aimed at making the capital more liveable and attractive to tourists, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday.

Under the plan, the city aims to build a Ferris wheel larger than the London Eye, with the mayor saying that it will become Seoul's landmark. The London Eye stands at 135 meters tall, and has a maximum capacity of 800 people.

Haneul Park in Sangam-dong in western Seoul and Nodeul Island, a small artificial island on the Han River near Yoeuido, are being considered as potential sites for the project.

Oh, who unveiled the project during a New Year's press conference with foreign correspondents at the city hall in Seoul, did not specify a timeline of when the Ferris wheel would be completed.

More green spaces in the districts stretching from Jongmyo, a shrine in Jongno-gu, to Chungmuro, central Seoul, are also in the pipeline, Oh said.

"Seoul is an attractive city attracting many tourists from all over the world already, but it will be one of the top attractive cities," Oh said.

The plan is an upgraded version of its Han River Renaissance Project, an urban planning scheme Oh promoted back in 2006 to create waterfront cultural spaces along the Han River.

He also vowed to increase Seoul's standing on the Global Power City Index, a ranking conducted by the Japan-based Institute for Urban Strategies of major cities according to their "comprehensive power to attract people, capital, and enterprises from around the world."

Seoul was ranked seventh out of a total of 48 cities on the index's 2022 edition. Oh said he aimed to bring Seoul up to fifth place.