Data on the state of public construction projects in the year 2015 shows that the central government had commissioned an even distribution of projects valuing in the range of 1 to 50 billion Korean won, while local government projects were mostly small-scale projects less than 5 billion won. However, there were only a sparse number of local governments that systematically managed their public architecture projects or ran dedicated organizations. With restrictions on budgets and manpower, the situation required a more effective management system.

There is an increased awareness of the importance of small public buildings, which are more closely integrated into the everyday lives of local residents; however, studies have revealed a low level of satisfaction from their users. This is due to the general lack of expertise of the government officials in charge at the planning stage which results in homogeneous, low-quality public buildings.

This study aims to identify the key improvement measures that would enhance the quality of public architecture and to prepare a checklist to be used in the planning stages that would strengthen the overall planning capacities.