Hansol Complex 4 in Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which had faced the risk of being unable to rebuild, could resume its redevelopment project as early as July. Hansol Complex 4, along with Hansol Complexes 5 and 6, is designated as Special Maintenance Scheduled Zone No. 37 under the 2035 Seongnam aging planned city basic maintenance plan, also known as the Special Act on Aging Planned Cities, often called the First-Phase New Town Special Act, and therefore must carry out an integrated redevelopment of the three complexes. However, as nearby complexes shifted to remodeling instead of integrated redevelopment, Hansol Complex 4 was left unable to pursue redevelopment. Recently, though, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Gyeonggi Province, and Seongnam began talks to adjust the boundary lines of the special maintenance scheduled zone, opening the door for Hansol Complex 4 to proceed with redevelopment.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Seongnam City Council, and the maintenance industry on the 24th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), Gyeonggi Province, and Seongnam have begun discussions on a plan to adjust the boundary lines of the special maintenance scheduled zone for Hansol Complexes 4, 5, and 6. An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "With the lawsuit over Hansol Complex 5 concluded and the establishment of a union at Hansol Complex 6 also underway, we discussed together whether excluding them from the special maintenance scheduled zone is permissible under the rules and whether any institutional improvements are needed."
Hansol Complex 4 is grouped with Hansol Complexes 5 and 6 as Special Maintenance Scheduled Zone No. 37 under the 2035 Seongnam aging planned city basic maintenance plan. Hansol Complexes 5 and 6 had been pursuing remodeling even before being grouped into a special maintenance scheduled zone, but Seongnam, judging that their projects would be difficult due to lawsuits and other issues, included them in the special maintenance scheduled zone. Areas designated as special maintenance scheduled zones can proceed quickly by receiving special provisions such as streamlined permitting procedures instead of pursuing integrated redevelopment.
However, late last year Hansol Complex 5 ended its legal disputes and normalized its remodeling project. Hansol Complex 6 also decided to continue the remodeling project it had previously pursued. With this turn of events, integrated redevelopment with Hansol Complexes 5 and 6 became difficult for Hansol Complex 4, and being tied to a special maintenance scheduled zone also made it hard to redevelop independently under the Urban and Residential Environment Maintenance Act. For this reason, since last year residents of Hansol Complex 4 have asked the central and local governments to reset the special maintenance zone's boundaries to enable redevelopment.
Seongnam's plan, given the court ruling, was to separate the projects so that Complexes 5 and 6 proceed with remodeling and Complex 4 proceeds with redevelopment, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) had not stated a position on splitting the zone. In recent talks, however, discussions advanced on adjusting the boundary lines of the special maintenance scheduled zone for Hansol Complex 4. It is reported that they agreed to push for boundary adjustments by July, when leading districts will be selected this year.
A Seongnam City Council official said, "The council recently heard opinions on splitting the zones for Hansol Complexes 4, 5, and 6," adding, "We are pushing to make adjustments by July because the zone must be adjusted before applying for designation as a leading district to avoid harm to Hansol Complex 4."
According to the Seongnam City Council, before proposing a standalone maintenance plan for Hansol Complex 4, the city will proceed with procedures to adjust the boundary lines of the special maintenance scheduled zone to partition the planned zone from Hansol Complexes 5 and 6. Next month, the Seongnam Urban Planning Committee will review the matter, and Gyeonggi Province will process a general change application. In June, after review and approval by the Gyeonggi Urban Planning Committee, the city plans to announce a change to the basic plan in July and pursue standalone redevelopment.
However, before this decision, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) intends to firmly establish criteria for adjusting boundary lines. If complexes seeking to pursue projects on their own leave special maintenance scheduled zones indiscriminately, orderly maintenance of aging planned cities could become difficult. In connection with this, Gyeonggi Province has launched a full survey of complexes that had been pursuing all maintenance projects within special maintenance scheduled zones.