About half of Seoul residents say investment in environmental infrastructure is necessary even if it means paying higher taxes. Pictured is the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility, one of the city's waste incineration plants. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
About half of Seoul residents say investment in environmental infrastructure is necessary even if it means paying higher taxes. Pictured is the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility, one of the city's waste incineration plants. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

About half of Seoul residents say investment in environmental infrastructure — including waste incinerators and sewage treatment plants — is necessary even if it requires paying higher taxes. Some 65 percent also said they would accept the installation of such facilities in their own district.

Seoul Metropolitan Government recently published its Fourth Seoul Metropolitan Environmental Plan (2026–2040) on the city's official website. To inform the plan, the city conducted an online survey of 1,000 Seoul residents aged 14 and older from Aug. 14 to 19, 2024.

The survey found that 71.8 percent of respondents agreed that more environmental infrastructure should be built in Seoul or its autonomous districts. In addition, 65.2 percent said they would accept the installation of additional environmental facilities in the district where they live.

Some 63 percent of respondents said Seoul should work jointly with other Greater Seoul metropolitan governments to address environmental issues.

Residents rated the city's responsiveness to environmental problems poorly. For household waste management, negative assessments outpaced positive ones by a wide margin — 29.7 percent negative versus 14.1 percent positive. Similar gaps appeared for climate change (29.6 percent negative, 14.4 percent positive) and plastic waste (30 percent negative, 14.6 percent positive).

Generational differences in perceptions of Seoul's environmental policies were particularly pronounced. An analysis of booster samples — an additional 200 respondents drawn from teenagers and those aged 70 and older — found that teenagers tended to expect negative changes ahead, while older residents held a more optimistic outlook.

When asked what Seoul should prioritize in working with Greater Seoul governments to tackle environmental problems, 29.8 percent chose expanding jointly funded infrastructure across Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province — the top response. Household waste was cited as the most pressing environmental issue in the greater metropolitan area, at 21.6 percent.

When asked who bears primary responsibility for solving environmental problems, 44.7 percent pointed to the central government, followed by individuals at 20.8 percent and Seoul city and its autonomous districts at 19 percent.

Climate change and weather-related disasters (20.4 percent) and household waste (20.1 percent) were the top priorities residents said the city should address within the next five years. Climate change and weather-related disasters also ranked first for long-term priorities spanning more than 15 years, at 24 percent.

The city also conducted a separate "active citizen opinion survey" last year from June 9 to 23 through its "Imagine Seoul" platform, gathering responses from 2,236 participants on how they hope Seoul's environment will change in the future.

Respondents rated forest and park development as the area where Seoul performs best, at 30 percent, while environmental justice — defined as the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens — received just 1.3 percent.

For environmental priorities leading up to 2040, respondents most frequently cited reducing fine dust and making the city quieter (20.4 percent), followed by cutting waste and expanding resource recycling and stable disposal capacity (17.9 percent).

Seoul Metropolitan Government said it drew on the citizen perception survey results and expert opinions to develop the Fourth Seoul Metropolitan Environmental Plan, which will serve as a policy roadmap for the city's environment through 2040.


ikson@heraldcorp.com