Here is analyzed the transformation of the road networks of Seoul master plans of 1966, 1978 and 1988 to reveal the characteristics of the contemporary urban structure of Seoul. In the '66 master plan, the road network was planned as a ‘ring-radial pattern’ centered on the heart of city and extended towards the outer mountains. In the '78 master plan, the road network was changed to a ‘grid pattern’ centered on the Han River and framed by the inner edge of the outer mountains, while the ‘ring-radial pattern’ still remained in the form of ring roads around the inner mountains. In the '80 master plan, it was, in turn, conceived as a integration of the previous two patterns by a cross of hyperbola-shaped roads, to adjust it to both the existing roads in the heart of city and the surrounding topography.
