Why There Are So Many Cars in Seoul's Alleys: Parking and Landscaping Regulations Compared with Tokyo

In the alleys of lowrise residential areas in Seoul, many buildings have their first floor filled with parking lots, and greenery is often hidden inside the lot rather than along the alley. In contrast, in residential alleys in Tokyo, you can more often see small trees and flower beds between buildings and the street. The article pointed to parking requirements and landscaping regulations as factors behind the differences between the two cities. In Seoul, many buildings are required to have attached parking spaces, so pilotisstyle parking lots have become widespread, and landscaping is also only required to meet a certain area, making it hard for it to appear in the alley streetscape. As a result of comparing Nonhyeondong in Gangnamgu, Seoul, and Nakameguro in Meguroku, Tokyo, the researchers found that Tokyo has more detailed regulations requiring landscaping to be placed on a certain proportion of the building's front, which makes greenery in the alley more visible. In contrast, Seoul was pointed out as lacking detailed standards applied to smallscale alley residential areas, making it difficult for small environmental improvements between buildings to lead to an overall change in the alley's atmosphere.