The city of Seoul announced plans to build the largest spokeless Ferris wheel in the world. With an imposing diameter of 180 meters, the wheels is expected to be operational in 2027. The municipality hopes to attract new tourists to South Korea’s capital in the long term. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the plan at a meeting with Foreign Minister Park Jin and several foreign envoys from 99 countries.
Called ‘The Seoul Ring’, the structure will be 180 meters in diameter and will be built in Haneul Park. A district known locally for housing the World Cup Stadium and a former waste disposal site, recently redeveloped as an ecological park. The cost of this project, expected for 2027, is 300 billion won (215 million euros). A significant investment that should above all allow the city to “develop its tourism activity”, as reported by CNN.
Without spokes or hub (the central part of a wheel), this new generation Ferris wheel will be the second highest Ferris wheel in the world in size, behind the Ain Dubai (250 m) in the United Arab Emirates. It will be the first spokeless wheel in the world in terms of diameter. As of today, the record holder is the wheel in Shandong, China. It measures 145 meters in diameter.
Since the park is geographically close to the border with North Korea, the wheel represents our desire to one day see a unified Korea.
Seoul municipality
With its sober and futuristic architecture, the Seoul Ring is an ultra-design building that should become “an emblem of the city” and symbolize “the gateway to the capital and its policy of respect for the environment,” reports the Korean news agency Yonhap News. In a press release announcing the project, the Seoul municipality said the location of the wheel, in Haneul Park, was chosen for various reasons, including its proximity to the northern border of the country.
The ring will feature 36 glass cars that will run on solar power. Each of these will be able to accommodate 25 occupants. The project aims to accommodate 1,200 people daily. The city also plans to use augmented reality technology and to broadcast tourist information on the walls of the capsules.
An attraction that should boost the tourist influx that continues to grow in the capital. “It’s time to erase concerns and build the Ferris wheel as part of a feasible plan to reveal the true value of the Han River and pave the way for the era when nearly 30 million tourists will visit Seoul,” Hong Sun-ki, director general of Seoul’s Future Urban Spaces Planning, said at a press briefing.
