The Seoul city government decided to reduce the public contribution burden according to increase in height in areas where redevelopment and reconstruction projects are less viable due to height regulations, such as altitude restrictions and cultural asset preservation. They plan to include fire safety and disaster fields in the integrated review of redevelopment and reconstruction, which will simultaneously review seven areas, including architecture, transportation, and environment, and aim to shorten the approval period by at least two months.
On the 9th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon chaired a regular executive meeting on the elimination of economic regulations and finalized the regulatory reform plans No. 3 and 4, which include the aforementioned contents. Earlier, Seoul had also introduced regulatory reform plan No. 1 (relaxation of mandatory ratio for commercial buildings in urban and transportation hubs) and No. 2 (expansion of exemptions for environmental impact assessments).
Regulatory reform plan No. 3 relieves the public contribution burden on project operators, such as cooperatives, in 'urban regulatory areas' where projects are challenging due to various regulations like altitude restrictions. Urban regulatory areas refer to locations subject to altitude and landscape districts, cultural heritages, and school surroundings, as well as hilly areas, where height limitations exist from sunlight rights and slope restrictions. Even if the Seoul city government raises the maximum floor area ratio to revitalize redevelopment and reconstruction in such areas, it cannot meet the limits due to various regulations.
Last year, the Seoul city government reduced the mandatory public contribution ratio from 15% of the site area to 10% to support redevelopment and reconstruction. In the future, this ratio will not be uniformly applied at 10%, but rather, the public contribution will be borne in proportion to the actual benefits received from the increased floor area ratio due to land use changes. For example, if the land use category is increased from a Type 1 residential area to a Type 2 residential area, the maximum floor area ratio rises from 200% to 250%, an increase of 50 percentage points. However, if various regulations mean only a floor area ratio of 220% can actually be obtained, then the increase in floor area ratio is acknowledged as 20 percentage points instead of 50 points, and the public contribution rate would apply 4% rather than 10% (based on site area).
Task four of the regulatory reform plan aims to shorten the approval period for redevelopment and reconstruction projects by more than two months through an integrated review. Fire safety and disaster reviews, which were previously conducted separately, will be added to the integrated review targets. The integrated review involves analyzing the impact of redevelopment and reconstruction projects across seven fields, including architecture, landscape, education, environment, and transportation, and incorporating the opinions of various experts. It is necessary to pass this review to receive 'project implementation approval' that confirms the business plan.
The Seoul city government anticipated that including fire safety and disaster fields in the integrated review would reduce the period for promoting maintenance projects by more than two months. Furthermore, it is expected that efficient construction planning, including standards from the fire safety and disaster fields, will become feasible as experts from these fields, along with those in architecture and landscape, conduct the review together.
Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "We must find new solutions that suit our society, which is at a crucial turning point, and bold regulatory elimination is the answer." He added, "If we remain content with the current situation, we cannot progress, and if citizens feel discomfort, all regulations must be reviewed from scratch."