Although the value of urban space is highly recognized, the actual practice of making improvements on the planning, design, or spatial qualities of individual places lacks flexibility, speed, and integration. The current planning methods exhibit several problems: the plans may be drafted on a higher spatial level which fails to recognize the actual physical aspects of the urban space; the plans may be able to tackle physical problems but is limited to specific aspects. Or at times, it is specific to a site but envisioned on a comprehensive level that fails to address small-scale, site-specific problems that occur sporadically within the urban realm. Thus, this study aims to improve the contents and institutional aspects of urban design practice to cope with small-scale place-related issues that are difficult to integrate or improve upon quickly. In order to do this, the study reviewed the existing concept of urban design and examined the Korean urban planning system through these lenses in order to suggest viable improvement measures.