I agree, Busan looks quite stunning as it is. And it's only gonna get better.
LCT is getting built quickly, as well as a few other Haeundae projects a little away from the beach (Loisir Hotel, The H Suite, Vista Dongwon, Lotte Castle Star, Tower Marvellous, this new project and some other ones such as Hotel Golden Tulip). There are also three projects in Marine City (Dongbaek Doosan We've The Zenith, Marine City Xi, an unnamed Lotte project on the last Marine City lot)...
And the rest of the Busan skyline is changing quickly:
- BIFC Phase 2
- The W
- Lotte Town Tower (could resume construction by Q3 2018)
- Songdo Ijin Bay City (apparently resuming right now)
- Samick Beach reconstruction
- DWBC Centum (tough to put a timeline on this project)
- Major projects near Citizen Park (including Chokjin District 3 which was awarded to Hyundai under the "The H" brand last month.
...
Busan is slowly turning into a powerhouse. And apart from skyscrapers, there are major projects in Busan on many fronts:
- touristic (skywalks, cable cars, new museums)
- urban development areas (East Busan near Songjeong Beach, North Harbor Redevelopment and Busan Station plaza, Myeongji, Eco Delta City)
- subway (Donghae Line extension to Ulsan, Gyeongjeon Line to Masan, Yangsan Line, Sasang-Hadan Line, plus quite a few other lines proposed but not scheduled to start construction within 5-10 years)
- other transportation (Busan Loop expressway, introduction of Bus Rapid Transit, Airport extension)
- industrial (New harbor extension)
Gosh, I got exited once again.
Btw, did you know that Busan had seriously considered bidding for the Olympics, but had to drop out for various reasons (dropped out of 2020 Olympics after attribution of 2018 WG to Pyeongchang, dropped out of 2024 after attribution of 2020 Olympics to Tokyo, couldn't bid for 2028 as it was awarded to LA without a vote.
Do you think there's a chance Busan could be a viable candidate? I think there is. We've had games in similarly "small" cities over the past 25 years (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens), and I think the IOC (and other sports organization) has a positive image of Korea (democratic, one of the best sports nation in Asia, good economy, successful experience for such events). It would of course be a longshot, and I don't know if it would make financial sense for the city, but that's definitely interesting to at least consider it.