Seoul requires new buildings to reserve parking space for bikes

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- Seoul will require all new apartments and buildings of
a certain size to provide parking spaces for bicycles starting next month, the
Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday.
The new regulation will apply to apartments that are 26 stories or higher with
300 or more units and to commercial buildings of more than 21 floors above
ground, the city government said in a release. Apartments will be required to set
aside 5 percent of their total parking space, while office buildings will set
aside 2 percent.
Apartment complexes will also be required to maintain a separate pathway for
bikes at least 2 meters wide, the city said, while the space between the road and
apartment blocks must be filled with vegetation.
"Once the new rule takes effect, the city will have more eco-friendly and
creative buildings," Lee Kwon-ki, an official at the city government, said.
"By making it mandatory to have bike parking lots, residents in mass housing
complexes will have individual parking spaces of more than half the size of a
bike per household."
Pledging to promote green growth, President Lee Myung-bak has strongly advocated
increased use of bicycles for transportation.
South Korea plans to lay 3,000km of bicycle lanes across the country by 2018,
with 170km to be built this year.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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