Jegi-dong Hanok Village in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, will be reborn as "Gyeongdong Hanok Village," linked with the nearby Gyeongdong Market and equipped with a complex cultural space and pop-up stores.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on the 5th that it designated the Hanok Village area around 988 Jegi-dong (52,576 square meters) as an Architectural Asset Promotion Zone and decided and promulgated the management plan on Feb. 12. The city plans to create Gyeongdong Hanok Village and transform it into a signature Seoul attraction alongside Bukchon Hanok Village, Eunpyeong Hanok Village, and Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.
Jegi-dong Hanok Village is the only "built-up urban type" Hanok village among the five sites selected in the 2023 Seoul Hanok Village development contest that is not a new residential site. With the designation as an Architectural Asset Promotion Zone, city financial support and deregulation have become possible. Under the Architectural Asset Promotion Act, an Architectural Asset Promotion Zone is a system to preserve the value of areas where architectural assets such as hanok are concentrated and to manage them systematically.
The city plans to create a hanok complex cultural space (cafe, food place), hanok pop-up stores, and hanok stays. It will also improve the pedestrian environment of hanok alleyways and the Gyeongdong Market arcade.
In addition, to expand private construction of hanok, the city will ease standards so that a building can be recognized as a Jegi-dong hanok if it meets only three required items: a Korean-style tiled roof, Korean-style wooden construction method, and a courtyard. Even if there is an "atrium" that covers the upper part of the hanok courtyard with a transparent structure, it will still be recognized as a hanok to increase usability.
If these standards are met, the building-to-land ratio will be eased by up to 90%, the obligation to install accessory parking lots will be exempted, and the sunlight right height limit will be lowered from 1.5 meters to 0.5 meters. Special cases such as easing the building setback obligation and exempting the application of the ecological area ratio will also apply.
The Gyeongdong Hanok Village project is scheduled to proceed from 2027 by creating key hubs through the city's phased public investment, followed by private-sector participation.