2025 EACNCA | Seoul: Tackling Unrestricted VOCs Emissions through Integrated Governance
Seoul, a metropolitan city with over 9 million residents, has implemented comprehensive air quality policies to address pollution from rapid urbanization and industrialization. Recent initiatives such as the “Clearer Seoul 2030 Roadmap” and the VOCs Source Concentration Management Plan (2022–2024) reflect the city’s shift toward targeted and data-driven governance. These efforts have significantly reduced pollution levels, with PM2.5 concentrations falling to 17.6 μg/m³ in 2024 (the lowest on record) and VOCs emissions decreasing by 25% between 2018 and 2022. Seoul is now focusing on managing diffuse emissions from small-scale urban sources through measures such as IoT-based monitoring and promotion of low-VOCs products.