The Changes in Land Use Plans of SaJikDan Area in the 20^th Century from the Perspective of Historical Institutionalism

20세기 사직단 영역의 토지이용 변화와 역사적 제도주의적 해석

SaJikDan was an altar to the State deities and one of the most important facilities composing the capital city during Joseon period. The memorial service was, however, abolished in 1911 after Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910. Since then, in the old SaJikDan area stood several kinds of modern urban facilities. In 1920s, the city government of Seoul at that time initiated by Japanese colonialists decided to develop the area into an urban park with sports facilities and gardens. The plan faced a strong opposition from the Government General of Joseon, thus being compromised to designate the core area as a national historic site for preservation. During the War of 1937 to 1945, an urgent need to house the urban poor and build antiaircraft defense facilities turned the SaJikDan area into a more multi-use complex. Once the use pattern of the area of SaJikDan was fixed, it has hardly changed after the Korean liberation in 1945. The changes of SaJikDan area since then can be categorized into two periods according to their characteristic and intention. The area had been conceived as developable public land located in the city center until the early 1980s when the city government found its value as an opportunity to build up national identity of the city before upcoming international sport games of 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Summer Olympic Games. In this paper, we investigate historical changes of land use plans on SaJikDan area in the $20^{th}$ century and try to interpret these changes from the perspective of Historical Institutionalism.