Seoul will expand the areas eligible for the "urban maintenance-type redevelopment project" to Chang-dong and Sanggye, Gangnam, and Jamsil. It will also introduce incentives related to senior dwellings that reasonably improve height standards, the floor area ratio system, and mandatory nonresidential ratios.
The Seoul city government said on the 18th that it held the 15th Urban Planning Committee meeting on the 17th and "approved with amendments" a change to the "2030 Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Master Plan (urban maintenance-type redevelopment project section)."
This agenda is the procedure for the legal implementation of "Regulation Abolition No. 139 (expanding targets for urban maintenance-type redevelopment projects and abolishing height regulations)" announced on the 14th of last month. The main points are ▲expanding maintenance-eligible zones ▲easing height standards ▲overhauling the floor area ratio system ▲easing mandatory nonresidential ratios ▲expanding the supply of senior dwellings and lodging infrastructure.
The eligible areas for urban maintenance-type redevelopment projects will be expanded to "Chang-dong and Sanggye" in the northeastern zone and "Gangnam" and "Jamsil" in the southeastern zone. For the northeastern zone, the city expects to spur development of surrounding areas linked to cultural and startup hubs such as Seoul Arena, and for the southeastern zone, to boost urban competitiveness by attracting global companies through large-scale development.
To energize local maintenance, the city will delete the minimum parcel, low-density use, and new-build ratio standards, and if the legal aging standard is met, designate the area as a maintenance zone, thereby also strengthening the push to upgrade central areas.
Outside the central urban area, it will also ease the standard heights in line with the hierarchy of centers. In addition, it will abolish maximum height limits to encourage diverse landscapes and flexible architectural planning. In particular, for the Yeongdeungpo downtown, it plans to delete the standard height to guide development into a new growth hub in connection with the Yeouido downtown.
For metropolitan centers and the Mapo–Gongdeok area, the standard height will be set uniformly at 150 meters, and for other areas at 130 meters, easing regulations to encourage creative and diverse architectural design.
It will also reasonably change the floor area ratio system for urban maintenance-type redevelopment zones, which is lower than that of district unit plans. The permissible floor area ratios for general commercial and semi-residential areas will be raised to 1.1 times the local government ordinance floor area ratio, the same as under district unit plans. Through this, in general commercial areas, there will be an effect of improving the floor area ratio by 80% without additional public contribution burdens.
In line with the higher permissible floor area ratios, outside the central urban area, it will raise the maximum floor area ratio incentive for creating open green space (100%→150%), and newly establish incentives (up to 200%) for introducing postpartum care centers and wedding halls as facilities addressing low birthrates and aging, as well as incentives (up to 200%) for establishing measures for residential and industrial tenants within redevelopment projects.
It will also reduce the nonresidential ratio in commercial areas to encourage housing supply. The nonresidential ratio, which had been applied differentially by area, will be applied uniformly at 10%. Lastly, to "revitalize senior dwellings," it will introduce various incentives,
The Seoul city government also discussed ways to realize an age-friendly city. When introducing elderly residential welfare facilities and public-supported private rentals (for seniors) totaling 20% or more of the above-ground gross floor area, it will grant a floor area ratio of up to 200% and relax height limits by up to 30 meters through the Urban Planning Committee.
It will also introduce incentives to expand lodging infrastructure in response to increasing tourism demand in Seoul. Currently, to boost tourism, the city grants floor area ratio incentives of up to 100% for building hotels of three stars or higher in the downtown area. With this regulatory easing, it plans to expand the criteria for granting incentives to areas outside the downtown.